


Bloodlines

by Girl_Under_The_Mask



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Canon-Typical Violence, Fake AH Crew, Immortal Fake AH Crew, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Mild Language, Minor Character Death, Original Character(s), PTSD, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-13
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2018-12-01 12:55:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 48,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11486835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Girl_Under_The_Mask/pseuds/Girl_Under_The_Mask
Summary: What happens when the Fake's take in a stray from the streets who may be more than anyone realizes.





	1. New Blood

**Author's Note:**

> Alright first chapter here it goes! If you enjoy it then leave a kudos or a comment!

"Alright, who ate my goddam hot pocket?"  Michael yelled behind him to the guys in the garage.

"What are you going on about Micoo?"  The man with gold rimmed sunglasses and a British accent asked as he leaned against the hood of one of the many cars in the garage.

"My hot pocket, I left it right here on this plate and now it's gone.  That was my last one."

"Well I didn't touch it I was just in the kitchen grabbing some more bevs."

"Yeah cause all you need is another beer Gav."  Michael huffed at the Brit.  "Yo Rye-bread, did you see who took it?"

The man with the face paint only gave Michael an exasperated look that pretty much said 'why the hell would I know' from underneath the car he was working on.

"Maybe you already ate it."

"No, I only had like two bites before I went back inside to grab some rags and I come back and all that's left was an empty plate.  How do you explain that?"  He was almost screeching at the loss.  

"What is going on in here?"  Jack walked in rubbing the bridge of her nose.  

"Someone stole Michael's last hot pocket and he's getting pissy about it."  Ryan slid out from underneath the car and stood.  He walked over and grabbed a rag to wipe the grease off his hands.  

"Seriously? A hot pocket?  This is what all that’s what this is about?"

"Not just any hot pocket, my LAST ONE!"  

"We'll buy more, it's not the end of the world.  Just eat something else."  She shook her head, her bob cut bouncing as she did.  Geoff came in with a whisky in hand, with Jeremy close behind.

"Aww I was gonna eat that later." The shorter of the two whined.  Michael laughed his humming laugh at him.    
"Well now neither of you get it."  Geoff said as he took a swig from the glass in his hand.  Michael pouted as he looked longingly at the empty plate.  Suddenly there was a loud clatter and Gavin screamed and jumped into Michael's arms.  

"Good god Gavin, it was just Ryan dropping some tools.  Chill out man."

"Uhh that wasn't me."  

All six drew their weapons and scanned the area.  Geoff motioned towards the origin of the sound and walked silently towards the back corner where the was a bunch of random junk piled.  Ryan took point with his hunting knife and Michael right behind him with his Glock.  Nearing the corner Geoff called out.

"Who's there?  You're outnumbered, come out with your hands up and drop any weapons."   No response.  

"Flush 'em V."  The Vagabond grinned and stalked closer.  His knife was raised and ready to throw when he stopped and tilted his head.  

"What are you doing man?  Let 'em have it!"  Michael urged the psychopath.  

"It's a Fake Haus kid."

"What do you mean?"  Geoff made his way up.

"There is a kid in Fake Haus colors with a knife aimed at me."  The Vagabond didn't move as he repeated himself.  Ryan looked quizzically at the young girl who had her knife up ready to throw if he moved.  

"Come on out, we won't hurt you if you put the knife down and cooperate."    
It was easy to see that she was scared, the way her eyes glanced around looking for any escape and her breathing was uneven.  Ryan nodded and holstered his knife and backed away.  She looked past the boxes and saw how badly outnumbered she was.  Stepping out, the others saw that she was in fact just a kid.  Sixteen or seventeen at most.  She put her hands up and placed the knife on the ground and kicked it towards Jack.  

"Please, I need your help.  I’m being hunted."

"Who's hunting you?" Gavin asked as they all lowered their weapons.

"The Resurrection."

"Why do they want you?"  Jeremy took the next question.  
"After they attacked or HQ I’m the only one who got out alive."

"Back off guys, " Jack stuck her hand out and motioned for her to walk in front of her and the guys into the house.  She sat down on the couch, the crew sat or stood where they could hear.  Jack was the first to start.

"Why would the Resurrection want you?"

"I know what they did."

Jack exchanged a worried look with the others, the girl could be lying.  They sat in the living room and waited for her to start.  So the girl sighed and started,

"My name is Kristy Peake, my Dad was Matt Peake."  She saw they recognized they name and continued.  "About a two months ago, I was staying with my Dad and the others in Fake Haus when they raided the penthouse.  It was a mess,  my Dad and I got caught up in the firefight."  
They saw her pause and collect herself before continuing.

"They hit my Dad and I went back for him and got caught.  They held us as hostages for a while until they couldn't get a hold of the Bruce and James.  They got frustrated and there was a chance to get out so my dad told me to go and he would be right behind me.  So I made a run for it and shot two on my way out and hit one with my knife then I heard the shot and my dad crumpled on the ground.  I ran as fast as I could and I've been hiding out ever since."  

"Why not go back?"  Gavin asked.

"Can't track them down.  I've looked everywhere I know."  She looked rough, the bags under her eyes showed how little she'd slept and her hair was messy like it hadn't been brushed recently.    
Jack gestured to Geoff and Ryan to talk to them in the other room.  The lads stayed and put a game in and played.  

"Well?" Jack asked.

"Her story matches with what Bruce and James told us." Geoff ran a hand through his hair.  He continued,

"Ryan you knew Peake better than we did.  What do you think?"

"I know Peake did adopt a little girl when I first was with them."

"We need to look into this further." Jack added.

"Agreed, but until we know who she is, she stays here under watch."    
The Gents came back to find the lads and Kristy aggressively playing Mario Kart.    
Gavin yelled as he got blue shelled, and inked at the same time by Jeremy and Michael as Kristy took the lead and won. The boys yelled as she won the circuit and Michael tossed the controller as Gavin tackled him to the floor and wrestled, almost knocking over the end table and shattering a lamp that Jeremy saved before it crashed to the floor.

"Kristy can we talk for a minute?"  Geoff called her over.  They lead her into the heist room and sat down.  

"We need to know your not lying to us about who you are.  So if you don't mind we'd like to ask you some questions."  Jack said sitting down and crossing her legs.  The girl nodded.  
After almost an hour of asking questions they were still apprehensive to trust her story.

"What is one thing only those closest to him would know?"  Geoff asked.  This was the make it or break it moment.

"He slept with a Lightsaber nightlight and batman sheets every night of his life.  His favorite singer is Alicia Keys and his favorite movie is The Little Mermaid."

"I want to believe you, but we're gonna do a full screening."  Jack said after getting a nod from Ryan confirming what she said was true.  

Kristy nodded and waited for them to get everything they would need to gather the information  
they needed.      

It didn't take long for them to get what they needed to check up on her story.  But it would take a while to get the screening back from the B-team. In the meantime they set Kristy up in one of the spare bedrooms.  She had a guardian with her at all times to keep an eye out for anything she might try and pull.  
They all took turns watching her, usually going about their normal, daily routines when they didn't have missions going.  

She followed Geoff and Lindsay as they ran the business and dealt with suppliers and buyers and the other gangs in the alliance.  It was interesting to Kristy to see how FAHC ran their set up compared to Fake Haus's methods.  They introduced her to most of the B-Team and some of the others that they worked with.  But they didn't let her sit in on meetings and other important business.

Jack had taken her shopping to get some new clothes and anything else she might need while she stayed with them.

"Come on we're going shopping!" Jack yelled as she scooped up her keys.  Kristy gave the redhead a questioning look.  

"Why?"

"Because you can't keep wearing my clothes that don't fit and I want an excuse to get away from the morons for a few hours."  

After a full day of shopping and getting every possible thing she might need Jack caught her fussing with her hair.  She pulled into her favorite salon and got a questioning look from the girl.

"Come on you need a haircut."

"I guess I could use a trim."  She ran her fingers through the long, dark locks.

"You can do more than that if you want.  Anything you want, my treat."  Two hours later they walked out, Kristy's hair that used to reach halfway down her back was now just past her shoulders with bangs and was feathered with a deep red and Jack had gotten her own bob recut and put pink in her bangs.

Michael and Gavin had shared a shift and discovered that Kristy was pretty handy in a fight when Gavin had challenged Michael to a sparring match and got his ass beat.  Kristy was just about falling over laughing while the Brit was pinned down and trying to squirm out from underneath the other who was dangling a huge loogie over his face.

"I could do better."

"I'd like to see you try!" Gavin said when he saw her.  "AW MICHAEL!!!"  He screeched as the other man's spit landed on his cheek.  Michael tumbled off laughing as Gavin ran for a towel to wipe his face.

"She isn't wrong Gavin, you suck at hand-to-hand."  Michael stood back up.

"Whatever, bet you wouldn't last a minute against my Boi."    
Kristy considered it for a moment,

"Ten bucks if I last longer than a minute. Twenty if I win." Kristy challenged.

"I'll take that."  Michael said picking himself off the ground.  Kristy ditched her new jacket and shoes and stretched her arms out quick.  Michael waited for her and squared up when she did.  

"Alright I want a good, dirty fight. Three.  Two.   One.   GOOO!!!!" Gavin yelled.  Michael came in swinging with a right hook that Kristy easily ducked under while sending a spinning back-fist into the Lad's back.  

Michael came away and reset.  Kristy taunted him with her hand.  This time he waited for her to make the next move.  She let loose a blur of punches that Michael could only try and cover himself from.  While most of them were blocked, the ones that landed hurt like hell.  

"You've got a mean swing I'll give ya that but can you keep it up?" Michael told her.

"You talk too much." Kristy got past his guard and landed a solid hit on his cheek before backing away.  Michael didn't wait for her to catch her breath before charging and aiming right for the middle of her ribs.  She deflected the punch but instead of redirecting it she grabbed his wrist and spun away sending Michael past her and twisting his arm to force him on the floor.  She held him there with her foot on his shoulder and the wrist she had taken captive locked and pulled on his arm.  

"Oww, shit."  He yelled as he tapped out.  Kristy let go of him and offered her hand to help him up.  

"You owe me twenty bucks." She said as he stood.  

"Damn, how did you do that last thing?  That had to look cool as shit." He asked as they walked over to the speechless Brit.  She only laughed.  Michael fished out his wallet and handed her a twenty dollar bill before pulling her into a playful headlock which she easily squirmed out of.  Gavin was still standing there with his jaw on the ground.

"Dude you're gonna get flies in that thing if you don't close it."

"But how did. . . She just. . . Wot?" He stammered, if he had beaten Michael, the Jerseyan would have promptly pummeled him.  

"Come on Gav.  She beat me fair and square and she also isn't you." Michael's humming laugh sounded as he did the same move on Gavin who was unable to escape the inevitable noogie.      
Jeremy showed her around the garages and took her out to test drive some new modifications he had put in some of his personal vehicles.  She wasn't too bad of a driver and handled most bigger vehicles pretty well.  

Her time with the Vagabond was not what she had expected.  They just sat on the couch in the penthouse and read books.  Ryan would always have a Diet Coke with him and was usually without the skull mask.  Eventually Kristy's curiosity got the better of her and she asked him about his face paint.    
"I wear it to keep people from recognizing me if I have to blend in."  He didn't look up from his book.

"Then why have that and the mask?"

"The mask creeps people out, it's part of my reputation."

"Seems excessive."

Ryan only shrugged and kept reading.  Kristy had finished her book and put it on the coffee table.  

"What do you think they're gonna do with me when they get my screening back?"  The Vagabond set his book down and looked at the girl.  

"I don't know what we'll decide, but it will probably depend on what the screening says.  If you pass then they'd probably let you stay if you wanted to."

"And if I don't pass?"  The Vagabond just sat there and didn't answer.  The silence was broken by the Lads coming into the penthouse.  Ryan marked his spot in the book and started towards his room when Geoff, Jack and Lindsay also came in and called a meeting.  

"Kristy, you can just hang out right there for now." Jack told her before they entered the heist room.  They had probably gotten her screening back and we're going to decide what to do with her now.  

She waited outside the room for almost an hour while the crew talked.  She was starting to worry when Ryan opened the door and motioned with his head for her to come in.  Everyone was sitting around the table except for Geoff who was standing at the head.  Ryan took his seat next to Jeremy before Geoff began.

"Kristy, please sit."  Kristy sat in an empty chair next to Jack,  "A few weeks ago we found you hiding out in our garage and decided to give you a chance.  The screening we did confirms that you are in fact Matt Peake's daughter. But we have a slight problem"

Geoff watched her as he cleared his throat before restarting.

"You currently have no legal guardians to care for you currently.  Your adoptive father was killed in that attack and you have no else we can track down.  And since you're underage the legal thing to do would be to turn you over to CPS."

Kristy nodded, biting her lip as tears started to form.  Jack squeezed the young girl's hand reassuringly.  
"But when was the last time we did the legal thing?"  He smiled at her.

"Meaning that if you choose, you can stay here with us.  We all agree that you deserve to have people who will look out for you, and we want to be those people."  Jack told her.  

"So if you agree, we want you to become a part of this family."  
Kristy could only nod as tears fell down her face.  Jack pulled her into a tight hug which lead to a giant group hug minus Ryan.  

"Thank you, this means a lot."

"We know, that's why we offered."  

"Guess that kinda makes you our little sister?" Gavin ruffled her hair.

"Little sister that can kick your ass." She laughed playfully punching Gavin's ribs.  Michael swung Kristy around the room laughing.  When he set her down she pushed back her hair, out of breath from laughing.  

"Let's get celebrating!"  Geoff yelled making his way towards the kitchen, throwing his arm around Jack as the lads raced for the booze.  Ryan stayed behind with Kristy, he smiled down at her as he offered up a hug.  She knew it was something that he didn't do often and took the chance.  

"Come on, Diet Coke’s on me." He laughed.  Kristy smiled and followed him to the kitchen where Michael and Gavin were already challenging each other to some drinking game, Jeremy popped the cap on a beer and Jack poured herself and Geoff two glasses of brandy.  Ryan grabbed two Diet Cokes and handed one to the kid.

"To Family!" Geoff called raising his glass.

"To family!" They said raising to toast.  Looking around, Kristy felt at home.


	2. The Truth Reveals

It was a few weeks after Kristy had been officially taken in by the Fakes when they started planning a new heist. Geoff wanted to hit an armored truck owned by Humane Labs that was transporting some chemicals they needed for explosives and other things. They had planned and prepared for weeks, Kristy helped out with anything the crew needed help with. Geoff and Jack were apprehensive about letting her join but after some convincing from Michael and Jeremy they agreed to let her go. 

Her job was simple, scout out the truck on her bike and follow it until the others got there. Then try and draw off the cops by pretending to crash a few miles behind them. 

They went over the plan one last time and before they left Ryan placed a box in black wrapping paper and a big green bow on top in front of her.

"What's this?" Kristy sat up and pulled it closer to her.

"Now that you're one of us we decided you might need it." Jack smiled as Kristy pulled the paper away and opened the box. Inside was a pair of matching pistols and a black leather jacket with gold accents. The pistols were heavy .50 automatic’s. Kristy put the jacket on and held the pistols up, feeling their weight before tucking them into the holsters. 

"There's still more in there." Michael said. Looking back in the box, she saw a smaller box. 

"That's from me specifically." Ryan told her. Inside was a beautifully made serrated, double edged knife. The blade had a gold color folded into it and a Kevlar grip. It was slimmer and just a bit longer than Ryan's own blade and had a bit more curve on the tip.

"Thank you, this is all amazing but. . ." 

"No buts," Geoff pointed at her, "in this line of work you need to be able to take care of yourself and you need good gear to do that. We don't want you getting hurt but it will happen and now you have the tools to fuck up anyone who might try." 

Kristy smiled, she slid the knife into its holster and tucked it into her boot. There was no use arguing with the Kingpin. 

"Alright get set up and let's do this shit!" Geoff called out. They all stood and went to get the show on the road. 

Michael, Jeremy and Ryan took a stolen SUV they bulletproofed while Geoff, Jack and Gavin headed to the airfield to get a chopper. Kristy pulled on her helmet and climbed on the bike they had stolen and beefed up. She revved the engine and sped out of the garage.

She headed north out of the city to track down the truck. The comms were fairly quiet until Gavin got bored and asked a stupid hypothetical question. 

“So if I jumped out of a plane and landed at the right angle I could just run down Chiliad. No parachute required.”

“Gavin I can’t even begin to list the reasons that will never work.” Jack sighed, they argued a good hour before Kristy tracked down her prey. 

"I've got visual, two miles north of the bridge."

"Got it. Alright guys and gals, LET'S HEIST!" Geoff called it. 

It had started off according to plan but this was the Fake AH Crew. And something always went to shit during heists. This time it was actually Michael, Lil' J and the Vagabond who were responsible. When running the truck off the road had failed, Michael had tossed a grenade through the shot out window. Causing the armored truck to blow and the SUV was caught in the blast zone. 

Luckily the truck was armored inside and their cargo was untouched and they started to load the chopper and regroup. The police and S.W.A.T. blew by Kristy’s hiding spot and she radioed the crew to warn them before taking off after the squad cars. 

She watched as multiple RPGs and sticky bombs cleared the enforcement and forcing them to scatter. The chopper took off with the cargo and the ground team stole another car to lose the heat. 

Kristy followed a ways back and was circling back to the safehouse when she heard the ground team shout over the comms. They were still taking fire and not having any luck shaking the cops. She changed her route to go help them and was close enough to see the lights before another explosion rocked the ground. 

“What the Hell is going on you guys?” She yelled through to them.

“The car rolled and we barely got out before it blew, we’re fine but some backup would be fucking great!” Michael yelled back. Kristy sped towards them when her heart stopped when  
she heard Ryan yell in pain and everyone yelled for him. She stopped and dropped the bike before pulling out one of her pistols and checked that the magazine was full. 

When she got there she could hear Michael and Lil' J shouting. 

"We can't just leave him here, we gotta get out of here before more of them show up." Michael yelled, not seeing Kristy running up to them. 

“Ryan!” Kristy slid next to him behind cover, he was still breathing but it was raspy and his beat was weak.

"Go get a car, Kristy can you get him to Caleb?"

“Get me something fast!” She yelled as she dropped a couple LSPD officers who were charging her and Ryan’s cover. Michael held them off as she made a bandage from Ryan’s torn shirt and tried to slow the bleeding.

"Don't you dare die on me Vagabond." She whispered as she heard a car pull up behind her. Jeremy got out and helped load Ryan into the car. She climbed into the driver's seat while Ryan got buckled into the passenger seat by the others. When the door closed she floored it, Ryan stirred and mumbled something next to her when she hit a curb trying to get to the safe house quickly. 

"Caleb, I've got Ryan and were coming in hot." She called the medic as she ran a red light, trying to hurry. 

"Alright we'll be ready when you get here, how is he?"

"He got shot, right side." 

"How far up is it from his hip?"

Kristy looked over, "three, four inches?" Caleb told her to hurry before she hung up.

She took Ryan's hand to keep track of his pulse, and for comfort. She was a few blocks away when she felt him go slack. Cursing she floored it, 

"Come on Ryan! Please, you can't do this," she yelled at him, "Don't let me lose you too." Tears ran down her face. She couldn’t let him die, she couldn’t lose her family again.  
Caleb was waiting for her when she screeched to a halt. He opened the door and hauled him out to lay him down. 

"Go get Jack and Geoff,”

“But. . .”

“GO!” Kristy ran to obey the medic. She barged into the safe house and ran into Gavin,

“In the garage. . . Ryan’s . . .” Gavin ran to the garage as Jack came to find the disturbance. Kristy ran behind him and stopped in her tracks as she saw Caleb sigh and stop what he was doing. 

“No, no no! Ryan!” she cried and ran for him. Gavin caught her and held her back from him

"Kristy calm down," She ignored him as yelled for him. 

"You have to help him! please!" She pleaded with the medic. Her screams turned to crying and Gavin let her sink and held her as she started to shake. He tried to move her but she wouldn’t go with him and tried to get to Ryan. Gavin managed to pick her up and started to take her inside when Geoff and Jack came out. Jack rushed to them and started fretting.

“What happened?!”

"She's fine, but Ryan. . ." Caleb stopped, they knew.  
Gavin took her inside and settled on the couch. She clung to him and cried.

"Easy love, it's alright." he tried to comfort the girl.

"Sweetheart, it's alright." Jack pulled Kristy from Gavin and wrapped an arm around her. 

"I tried, but I was too late. I tried. . ." She sobbed into Jack. The redhead held her,

"Kris, it's not your fault." Jack wiped the tears away. "Look, we need to tell you something. We should have a while ago." 

"Look kid, Ryan isn't gone." Geoff let that sit for a minute, "Every time we die, we come back. Kind of like in respawning in video games. It's hard to explain but we are pretty much immortal."

"Fuck you." Kristy punched the kingpin before hugging him. "You should have told me that earlier you ass."

"Wait, you believe me?" Geoff was confused, what had he had to drink.

"Of course, my dad was immortal. I saw him die and come back more than a few times, until. .“ 

“Hey, it won’t happen again.” Jack said softly. Kristy nodded and hugged Geoff tighter. 

"I was so scared, I didn't know what to do. It was like losing Dad again, I don't think I could've lived with myself if I lost any of you. You’re family and I love you guys, even if you are annoying as hell some days." Her tears came back.

"Oh Kris," Jack stood up and joined the hug. "We love you too, and we don't want to see you get hurt." 

Michael and Jeremy weren't too far behind and came in covered in soot and blood. They had come back as quickly as possible to check on the kid. They walked in to see the group hug.

"How is she?" Jeremy asked the trio. 

"She's good. But Ryan's gonna be pissed later." Geoff told them. The trio broke apart and  
Jack lead Kristy to the room they were sharing to clean up. After shedding her bloody clothes 

Kristy stepped into the shower. The water was warm as it ran off her body in pink streaks. 

The entire crew was immortal, how could they not tell her? True most immortals kept their ability a secret but as close as she was to the crew, they all knew about each other. Why leave her out of the loop? 

Her mind returned to the image of Ryan sitting next to her. The way his head was lolled to the side and the grey color of his skin. The same as her dad when he was killed, but Matt wasn't coming back. The Resurrection had made sure of that when they broke in. Soon the water was running cold, Kristy turned it off and grabbed a towel to dry off. She put on the clean clothes Jack had put out, they were a little big but she didn't really care.

Joining the rest of the crew in the kitchen she sat sullenly as they discussed transporting the cargo to where it needed to go. Jeremy sat beside her at the island and bumped her with his shoulder.

"Hey, he's gonna be fine. It takes a lot to get rid of him." 

"I know, it's just. . . I saw him just like my dad. I was scared." 

"Of losing him?"

"Yeah, and what I was going to tell you guys. That I had been too late to save him."

"Hey, we all knew the risks when we started this life."

Kristy could only nod. About an hour later Caleb came in to tell them Ryan was starting to revive, he would still be out for a while but he was fine. Kristy has to keep herself from running to his side when Caleb gave the all clear to see him. Jeremy walked with her to the door that lead to Ryan. Just short of going in he saw her hesitate,

"What if he hates me?"

"What? Trust me he's not going to blame you, if anything he'll be worried that you're okay. Trust me." 

Kristy gave a small smile of thanks before opening the door. Jeremy closed the door behind her to give them privacy.

Lying on the bed you couldn't tell that Ryan had been dead a few hours ago. The color had returned to his skin and his chest rose and fell with each breath. His face paint had been washed off earlier by Caleb. Kristy curled up in the chair next to the bed and just watched, afraid it was all a dream and she would wake up and it would be hell all over again. 

Everyone sat with them at some point that night, checking on Kristy as she waited for Ryan to wake up. Eventually at four in the morning Jack came in to find Kristy asleep in the chair. Ryan stirred at Jack sitting on the bed,

"Hey,"

"Hey yourself," Jack smiled. "She's been worried sick about you." She nodded towards the sleeping girl. Ryan looked over at her. 

"Did I. . ." 

"Yeah, she took it pretty hard." 

"You told her about us then." Ryan looked back towards Jack who nodded. "Well at least it’s not a new concept for her to understand. Most of Fake Haus was immortal, including Peake.”  
Jacked nodded and stood to leave.

"If you need anything just call, we're all up still." 

"Wait, before you go can you do me a favor?" Ryan asked. Jack nodded, understanding.  
Warmth enveloped Kristy as she started to wake up. She moved closer to the source, pulling the blanket closer around her. She would have stayed that way but was startled by something moving next to her. Opening her eyes, she saw she was curled up nestled in Ryan's side. She almost jumped off the bed in surprise, she had been on the chair when she dozed off. How did she end up here?

She jumped at the sound of a voice.

"Hey kid," 

"God damn you scared me."

"Sorry didn't mean to. You okay?"

"Yeah you just startled me that's all," 

"That's not what I'm talking about," he sat up, "are you okay?" He asked again.

"I. . . I think so. Just another day at the office." She folded her hands in her lap. Ryan ran a hand through his hair, 

"That doesn't answer my question," He waited for a response before sighing. "Just promise me that you won't bottle it up okay?" Kristy nodded and stood, she walked out to the kitchen leaving Ryan to get dressed and join them. 

Watching her walk out Ryan felt a twinge of regret, he needed to tell her. As soon as he had seen her in the garage he knew, and it wasn't right to keep her in the dark. He hadn't told anyone, not even Jack had noticed something different about his behavior. The idea of telling her scared the hell out of him, and why shouldn't it? Ryan had no idea how Kristy might react to the news. 

He walked out of the bedroom, he had to talk to Kristy. But when he walked into the kitchen and saw her happy and laughing with the crew as Jack made breakfast and the lads argued over videogames, he couldn’t do it. Seeing her and the crew happy, he couldn't bring himself to say anything so instead he forced a smile and joined in. 

They got word from Trevor the next day that it was safe to come back into the city with the cargo. He had already had buyers and meeting points set up and waiting. He and Geoff discussed a few other things before they planned the trip back into Los Santos.

They left in groups and staggered their departures to get back to HQ. Geoff, Michael and Gavin left first with the cargo loaded in an old box truck the crew had acquired during another heist. Jeremy and Kristy left in the muscle car Lil' J had dropped off at the house, saying they had to pick up something before they headed back. That left Jack and Ryan as the last ones to leave.

Ryan methodically reapplied his face paint, donned the signature jacket again and his long hair pulled back into a low pony tail. They got into what Geoff had dubbed the 'Soccer Mom' van Jack drove when she wanted to keep a low profile. Ten minutes into the drive back, Jack knew something was up with their Vagabond.

"Alright," She sighed, "spill it."

"I couldn’t possibly know what you mean." He crossed his arms and stared out the window,

"Damn it Ryan, don't make me pry. Something's off, and you're unbearable when you get in one of your moods." 

"It's nothing. I just, I just need some time to think."

"If it's nothing then just tell me."

"Jack please, just drop it okay? I need to figure this out on my own. I'm fine." He growled the last part. 

"Obviously you aren't. Is this about you getting shot?"

"No, kind of. I don't know."

"What the hell do you mean, you don't know?"

"It's hard to explain."

"We have time,” Jack shrugged “it's still an hour and a half drive back to the penthouse."

"You wouldn't understand."

"I would if you would just tell me." Jack was getting just as irritated with the mercenary as he was with her. 

"I promise you wouldn't. So just drop it. It doesn't concern you."

"If it concerns the crew then it does, in fact, concern me. What is such a big deal that you can't tell me?" Jack was getting under his skin, she was almost there.

"None. Of. Your. Business."

"Haywood I swear to god, if you don't tell me I'm gonna. . ."

"Look when I want to talk about it I will. But until then it's my problem and I will deal with it." He exploded on her.

Jack huffed, "You're insufferable, you know that?"

"I try." Ryan turned back to the window.

The rest of the drive was spent in uncomfortable silence. Jack would get him to talk, sooner or later. 

It was early afternoon when they arrived back at the penthouse, Ryan got out and headed straight for his car. Jack watched him drive out of the garage like a bat out of hell. She only shook her head and took the elevator to the top floor. She was greeted by the familiar atmosphere of the crew, Geoff kissed her cheek as he took her duffle bag.

"Hey babe, where's Rye-Rye?"

"Being a grumpy ass somewhere else." She kissed him back.

"Damn, is he in a mood again?"

"Yes," Jack sat down at the bar, "I need a drink."

"He's probably just upset that he got shot," Geoff poured Jack a glass of her favorite wine. "I'm sure he'll be fine in a few days."

"No, I don't think I've seen him this bad since Gavin almost destroyed his car." 

“Oh boy, he’s gonna be ticked for weeks.” Geoff winced and shook his head. "Did you get anything from him?"

"Just that he needs to think about something, I'm worried about him."

"Hey, you know Ryan. If he's in trouble he'll come to us for help. But he's stubborn enough to wait it out, give him time." 

"I'm worried he's gonna let it destroy him."

"Mama bear strikes again."

Jack laughed and kissed Geoff. He always knew how to calm her down, she loved that about him. 

"How about you and I go have some fun and let the boys and Kristy fend for themselves? We can go have dinner at that Italian place you like, go for a drive and get some drinks after, how's that sound?" He rubbed her shoulders as he made his proposition. 

"That sounds awesome, so do we give them a heads up or just go?" Geoff laughed and jotted a quick note for the others before they changed and left in Geoff's lowrider. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

"Hell yes!" Jeremy exclaimed as he drove his new truck through the back roads. He looked in his rear view mirror and saw Kristy catching up in his car. She saw him looking and sped up to pull alongside him, she flipped him off before jumping ahead and cutting in front of him. They pulled into the parking lot of a fast food joint, Kristy proceeded to do a few donuts before sliding into a parking spot. Jeremy pulled up next to her,

"Alright, since you won fair and square dinner's on me."

"It better be, I just kicked your ass Lil' J." 

He made to grab the girl but she only ducked away laughing and teasingly punch his side when a familiar looking adder went speeding past.

"Was that Ryan?" Kristy asked. Seconds later they heard sirens and the cops blew by firing off a few shots.

"I'm gonna go with yes. Come on let's give him a hand." Kristy made to get in the truck before he stopped her. 

"Nope you drive my car, and tail us. We may need you to call for backup." 

Kristy pouted.

"No don't you dare give me the puppy dog face. Jack would kill me if I let you join in a shootout with the cops."

"Fine, just don't do anything stupid." She climbed in the car and started the engine.

They took off and followed the sirens and lights. Kristy dropped a gear and stayed back aways while Lil' J took a shortcut around the cops. He pulled next to the Vagabond who nodded his black skull mask to acknowledge his presence. 

Jeremy put in his ear piece and clicked it on. He saw Ryan do the same and the line crackled to life.

"Having fun without us Rye-rye?" 

"Oh like you don't go and do stupid shit like this all the time with Michael and Gavin."

"What did you even do?"

"Let's just say I went to blow off steam and accidentally blew up twenty or so vehicles."

"Oh my god Ryan."

"Wait. Wasn't Kristy with you?"

"Uhh. . ."

"Did you seriously bring her with you?! I swear to god if she's in that stupid monster truck with you, I will personally rip your dick off."

"Chill Rye-Rye she's in my car tailing the cops and waiting to call backup if we need it."

He heard Ryan grumble something before telling him to turn into the subway tunnels when they lost the cops. They sat for a few minutes in silence while they waited for the heat to die down. Ryan's cell rang and he recognized Kristy's number.

As soon as he answered she yelled at him,

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS!?"

"In the subway tunnels, we're fine but you may want to pick us up so we can ditch these wheels for a while."

"Fine, where do you want me to pick you up?"

"The airfield is like ten minutes away we can stash them there for a few days and get the trailers later." He heard her hang up with a huff. 

 

God they irritated her. She had been driving around trying to find where they had gone, worried sick they had crashed somewhere. She was glad they were ok but she was really going to give it to them when she picked them up. Luckily the airfield wasn't too far and she made it there in fifteen minutes by speeding. She pulled up and honked at the two men standing next to the shed where they had probably locked up their vehicles.

Jeremy made to get in the driver's seat but seeing that Kristy was not about to get out he gave up and sat in the back and let Ryan take shotgun and closer range to the kid. The first few minutes were spent in an incredibly uncomfortable silence.

"What the actual fuck were you thinking?!" Kristy exploded at the mercenary after he took off his mask. He didn't even try to explain himself as the kid chewed him out. All along the lines of he was an idiot and shouldn't pull stupid stunts and shit. Jeremy was silent in the back seat until he heard Kristy say,

"How the flippity-fuck were we gonna get your twat-waffle ass back before you revived?"

At that he started dying from laughter, even Ryan was giggling at her.

"What?!"

"Did, did you just say flippity-fuck?" Jeremy barely got out as he laughed.

"And I've gotta say I've never been called a twat-waffle before." Ryan added. This seemed to help Kristy cool down, causing her to smile deviously.

"Gotta keep it fresh." She then laughed at herself, but mostly Lil' J who was turning purple from laughing. The tension had mostly dissolved at that point and the rest of the drive was Jeremy and Kristy singing along with the radio. 

When they reached the penthouse, Michael rushed to them.

"What the hell did you do?!" He was smiling as he saw Ryan in full heist gear. 

"Blew up some cars, managed to get three stars in ten seconds."

"Gavin owes me ten bucks. He thought you went on a murder spree and decided to blow up the evidence."

They continued talking up to the penthouse where Gavin was messing around with his computer. 

"Yo Gavers, pay up bitch!"

"Aww come on." Gavin fished out a ten from his pocket and slapped it into the arsonist's hand. He grumbled about lying to him or something. Kristy noticed the apartment was oddly quiet, she gave a questioning glance to Ryan when she caught his eye.

"Where's big boss?" Ryan asked.

"He and Jack decided to have date night so it's just us. Who's got a plan?" Gavin spoke up. 

"Rock band and pizza?" Jeremy threw in.

"Just dance and Chinese." Kristy said opening a Diet Coke, damn Ryan for getting her hooked on the stuff.

"Hell yeah I'll take you down girly." Jeremy ran to put in the game. Ryan went to order food from their favorite place downtown. When he got back he found that the lads were squaring up to do 4x4 by Miley Cyrus. He sat the side so he could watch the guys and the tv. 

By the time they finished they were all laughing too hard to care what the scores were, although Jeremy had won. Kristy took the next turn and had brought in a folding chair,

"What are you doing?" Michael asked sitting on the couch and opening his beer.

"I unlocked this one a while ago and I've been practicing." She smiled and picked Rich Girl which did have a new option that only said chair routine. She hit the play button and tossed the controller out of the way. She leaned back on the chair and waited for the music. 

The lads stared in awe as Kristy strutted around the chair and nailed every move. Gavin's jaw dropped when she also started to sing along. Michael closed the brit’s jaw without looking away. She finished with a perfect score and looked back to the couch and laughed when she saw the awe stuck guys.

"Weren't expecting that were ya?" She laughed and sat down on the floor.

"How long did you practice that?"

"About a week. It's not that hard."

They were broken by the trance when Ryan appeared with food. They ate as they played more songs. The best had to have been Michael and Gavin doing Careless Whisper and them falling at the end after Gavin tripped. They managed to get Ryan to do Moves Like Jagger and he didn't do too bad. 

It was almost midnight when everyone called it quits and headed to bed. Geoff and Jack got back around two in the morning, Jack went to the kitchen to get something for their inevitable hangovers in the morning. She had just grabbed the painkillers when she heard Geoff yelp. 

She ran and found that it was only Ryan that had surprised Geoff. 

"Good god why are you just wandering around? It's two o' clock!" He grabbed at his chest feigning a heart attack.

"Couldn't sleep, nothing new." 

Jack shook her head and ushered a drunk Geoff to his room, saying goodnight to the mercenary as she did so. Jack was still awake when she got Geoff settled and decided she might be able to press Ryan about earlier. She discovered him still up and sitting at the counter in the kitchen after changing into a t-shirt and sweatpants. 

"Hey, can we talk?"

Ryan looked over and nodded for her to sit.

"About earlier. . ."

"No need, I was out of line." Ryan looked at his hands on the counter.

"It's just, I worry about you guys." 

"Jack,"

"I know I get overbearing and I'm sorry."

"You were right."

"Wait what?" Ok something must really be wrong if Ryan was admitting she was right.

"Something has been bothering me, for a while actually. But you can't say a word to the others."

"I promise. Just tell me."

Ryan took a deep breath and sighed. He looked at Jack sadly and started.

"It's about Kristy. She isn't totally who you think she is, she doesn't even know herself. I don't know if I can ever tell her."

"You can trust me Ryan."

"I know Kristy from before we found her in the garage. Actually I've known of her since she was born."

"Ryan you aren’t making any sense. . ." Jack took his hand. 

"Kristy is my biological daughter."

“Oh shit,”


	3. Occupational Hazards

Jack looked at Ryan in shock.

"You have a daughter, specifically the girl staying with us?  You realize how crazy that sounds right?"

"I know but it's true.  I still went by James when I met her mother, got married and she got pregnant.  I worked IT at a insurance company back then.  The day she was born almost trumped our wedding day, I was a nervous wreck.  Then holding her, I just, I knew it was all I needed to be happy.  She was only a week old when my wife was killed, by some guy in an alley who needed money for his next high,"  Ryan's eyes turned dark,

"When I heard I panicked, She’d had Kristy with her when it happened.  I rushed to the police station and they didn't believe me when I said I was her father.  I had to do a lot to get custody back and I didn't really pay attention to how much I was spending to get her back.  She was all I had left of my wife and I couldn't lose her.  By the time I got her back I was broke.  I was forced to ask Bruce and James for help and they gave me a better paying job working for the gang.  That's when I was shot the first time and figured out I was immortal.  By the time I revived, I was announced dead and Kristy was already being adopted by Peake.  I couldn't bring myself to say anything and thought she would be better off without me and this new life I was creating.  So I left James behind and became Ryan and the Vagabond.  I never looked back always thinking she had ended up much better without knowing who I was."

They sat in silence for a few minutes as Jack processed what Ryan had just told her.

"And you're scared that if you tell her, she'll think you abandoned her."

"Exactly, I don't know what to do.  I thought I had gotten over it, and then out of nowhere she shows back up in my life."  Ryan ran his hands through his hair and held his head.  Jack rubbed her hand along his back,

"You were right when you said I wouldn't understand, but you need to tell her."

Ryan looked up at the redhead,

"She deserves to know the truth about who she is.  But you also have a right to be scared, and even if she rejects you, she has to make that decision for herself.  Do what your heart tells you, not your head.  There's no telling what that psycho brain of yours might tell you."

Ryan chuckled, he stood and headed towards his room.

"Thank you Jack.  Goodnight."

"Night Ryan, try and get some sleep ok?"

"I'll do my best."  

And with that, he was gone.  Jack sighed and left for her own bed, she flopped down and immediately Geoff reached for her.  He snuggled up against her back and was snoring again.

The next morning the crew was rudely awakened by an unusually cheerful Geoff.  Kristy trudged into the kitchen for a cup of coffee, specifically the strong kind she knew Jack had hidden away.  Finding it in an emptied out box of flax seeds she grabbed a cup of liquid energy and popped it into the Keurig on the counter.  In moments she was sitting in the heist room where Geoff had called them to with a large serving of the extremely dark coffee that she had scoured for.  

"Alright bitches we're gonna heist."  Geoff was practically buzzing, Kristy wondered how much of Jack's coffee stash he'd had this morning.

"We've been keeping a low profile for a while now and we need to show that we are still in control of this rat infested hellhole.  So our next hit is going to be, drum roll please."  He performed his own on the table,

"South Pacific Bank!" He waited for the reactions of the crew, who were all staring uninterestedly.

"What?  To obvious?"

Gavin whined,

"Geoffrey, that's a shit haul for a lot of extra work."

"Ah but that is where you are mistaken my British idiot.  The bank just got in a shipment of some very expensive assets from overseas.  I'm talking jewels, gold and a few high priced paintings.  Estimated take is over 5 mill."

"If we can pull it off.  With all of that there security is going to be tight and better paid."   Jack the constant voice of reason spoke up.  

"Not if we hit it late, right before they close.  Less civilians, tellers and most importantly less guards."

He launched into his plan describing every possible detail, except how they were going to get through the new security system on the vault.

"That will be where Kristy comes in."  He told them when Ryan asked.

"She will sneak in earlier and pretend to be a new night guard, first day and shit.  She swipes a key card and radios us ten minutes before the doors get locked.  We pretend she's a hostage and get to the safe.  With the key card we have more time to load up and get out before LSPD can arrive on scene.  We get away and split the goods."  Geoff was giddy with how well it all worked in his head, but these were the Fakes and something always went wrong.

"Are you sure about putting Kristy in?  If she gets caught this entire plan goes to shit.  Not to mention her security is almost none." Ryan questioned.

"Hey," Kristy sounded, she glared at Ryan.

"You aren't like us Kristy, you don't have the ability to come back if a guard shoots you.  The last thing I-we want is to lose you."

Jack heard Ryan catch himself but it didn't appear the the others had picked up on his personal worry.  She glanced over next to her where he sat and reached under the table and squeezed his hand reassuringly.  

"She knows how to take care of herself, she'll only be away from us before, when it's quiet.” Jeremy vouched,

“Besides the LSPD have new regulations regarding hostages according to our inside guy.  B-team has almost everything ready except some last minute intel I want Kristy and Lil' J to scout out."  Jack went to protest this time but Geoff stopped her before she could even start.

"She needs to learn and since she'll be on the inside for this one, she needs to see what exactly she need to expect.  Jeremy is going with her to show her the ropes."  He received a nod from the shorter man.

"Yeah, it’ll be easy-peasy."  

"Good, we hit next Friday night.  You all know what you have to do and what you need, I have total faith we can pull this off.   Now get out of here and get going."  Everyone made their way out of the room and went to start preparations.  Jeremy caught Kristy and told her they would go later to scout out the bank.  She spent the rest of the day relaxing and helping out anyone who needed it.  She didn't notice how Ryan seemed to keep his distance and was more reserved than usual.  

Jack however did notice and glared at him every time he seemed to hesitate.  She pulled him aside,

"Go on, just tell her."

"You know it's not that easy."

"I'm not saying it's easy.  I'm saying it needs to be done, Ryan you can't do this to her."

"Well I was planning on taking her out that night for target practice and then pier to tell her but Geoff fucked that plan."

"Tell her tomorrow, go take her to dinner I can keep everyone here busy."

"Ok, that sounds like a good plan.  But what if. . ."

"Don't think about that, just focus on telling her and ride it out from there."  Jack left him standing in the hall.  He looked back at his daughter on the couch, reading a book he had loaned her.  Completely unaware of the entire situation she was apart of.  

Looking at her watch, Kristy saw she needed to get her stuff ready for tonight.  She marked her page and stood, stretching her back and walking to her room.  She met Jeremy and hour later down in the garage with a duffle of stuff Jack told her she would probably want.  

"Ready?"

"Let's go."  

They drove a dark blue suv to the street of the bank.  Jeremy parked them in an alley and headed up the fire escape of the abandoned building next to them.  Kristy followed him up and through a window into an empty apartment.  Jeremy explained some of the equipment and helped her set up.

"Now we sit and watch for patrols, how many there are and come up with a basic timing for getting around them."

"Cool, so stakeout time?"

"Stakeout time." He agreed, pulling out and assembling his sniper rifle just in case.

It was almost midnight when Kristy started to feel uneasy.  They had mapped out a basic timing of the guards and their numbers and we're just waiting around to see if something else would pop up.  She took another swig of the red bull she was drinking to stay awake, and heard something.  She looked around and didn't see anyone coming up the fire escape.  The uneasiness was turning into a sense of being hunted,

"Jeremy, did you hear that?"

"Nah it's probably just that red bull you had."  He looked away from his scope to glance at her.  "You ok?"

"I just have a bad feeling."  

As soon as she said that she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder and a sudden tingly sensation starting around it.  Her vision blurred and she felt heavy, she barely registered Jeremy shouting something before darkness overcame her.

Jeremy saw a flash and Kristy immediately started going down.  The door to his right bursted open and five guys charged in, the biggest who was three times bigger than Jeremy knocked him down before he could fully stand.  Diving towards Kristy and calling for her, he felt something hit the back of his head and was out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What do you mean they missed a check in?"  Ryan growled at the kingpin.

"They didn't radio in at midnight, and we can't get any signal from their comms."

"I'm going to check on them."

"Im sending out B-Team. . ."

Ryan ignored him as he grabbed his jacket and mask

"Ryan!"

"No Geoff!  I won't sit here and wait for someone else to tell me she isn't ok." he stormed for the door

"She?"

"Them, I mean them."

"No, you're more worried about Kristy than you are Jeremy.  Why?"  Geoff stood between Ryan and the door.

"Geoff,"  Jack warned.

"I have the right to."

"Why? Why are you more worried about her safety then both of them?  You've been acting all weird since you got shot this last time.  You've been worrying everybody here, what is going on."

"You wouldn't understand Geoff,"

"I don't care if I'll understand, I have a right to know what happens in my crew."

"This doesn't involve the crew it's my own business."

"That's what scares me."

"Guys calm down,"  Jack attempted to pushed Geoff away from Ryan only to be shoved off.

"No his attitude could cost us our safety, I won't let him endanger the lives of the  crew."

"Me?!” Ryan shouted, “You're the one who’s risked my daughter's life tonight and if I lose her again it's on you!"  He stormed out of the penthouse completely unaware of what he had just said.  Geoff stood there in shock even after he heard the roar of Ryan's bike pull away and tear down the street.  

The commotion had brought the rest of the main crew up, they stood anxiously.  They didn't hear what Ryan said and looked to Geoff for an explanation.

"Geoff, what happened?"  Gavin asked timidly,

"Geoff?"  Jack placed her hand on his shoulder, shaking him from his stupor.  He turned to her and placed his hand over her's.

"Did you know?"  He looked sadly at her.

"He told me last night."  She admitted.

"Told her what?  Geoff what is going on?"  Michael asked.  Geoff walked to the bar and sat on one of the tall stools, Jack came up behind him and put her arms around his shoulders.  He grabbed her hand and looked up at the two lads.

"Ryan has a kid."

"Whoa wait, you're telling us that super-murdering-psycho Ryan had a kid with someone!"  Gavin squawked.   "He’s so. . ."  

"Gavin Shut. Up."  Michael slapped the back of his head.  Gavin looked at them sheepishly.

"It was before he became the Vagabond."  Jack told them.

"So who is it?"

Jack gave Michael a knowing glance that seemed to speak for her.

"You don’t mean,"

"Yeah,"

"Who?" Gavin was still confused.

"It's Kristy, you dumbass."  Michael told him.  At this point Gavin was never going to pick up his jaw from the floor where it had dropped.  The four sat in silence until Jack's phone rang.  She recognized Ryan's number and immediately answered,

"Ryan?  Where are. . .Ok ok calm down.  Where are you?. . . Just stay where you are, I can be there in ten minutes. . ."  She grabbed her coat and keys and left the guys sitting there in silence.  

No time for being discreet, she took the fastest car they had and raced to the address Ryan had given her.  She slid into a parking spot and locked the car, running into the building.  Her gun was drawn as she raced up the steps and found a broken down door and ducked through.  She found Ryan against the wall holding his head, his mask was thrown to the side.  

"Ryan?"  He looked up from his arms when he heard her voice.  His eyes were red and there were tears running down his face.  He reburied his head when Jack knelt next to him, sobs shaking his large frame.  

"Gone,"  was all he could muster out when Jack's arms reached around him.  He grabbed onto her and cried into her shoulder, tears staining her coat.  They had never seen Ryan like this, he was always the one to disappear and destroy something when he got this emotional.  Now he just looked broken and defeated as Jack held him.

"My fault.  I should have been here.  I, I never told her."

"No don't you dare do that to yourself.  This is not your fault, we'll find her."

He only continued to cry, slowing down enough that it was only hiccups.  Jack took this time to look around the room, all of the equipment was still there but there wasn't any blood so that was a good sign, right?  The comms had been crushed and there wasn’t much sign of a struggle.  Then she noticed a phone in a plastic bag stuck to the wall with Kristy's knife, her jacket was hanging off the handle.  A few fist sized holes were next to it, she saw Ryan's knuckles were bloodied and put the pieces together.

She pulled her phone out and called Geoff who answered halfway through the first ring.

"You need to see this, bring the boys with you.  I'm bringing Ryan home,"

"What’s going on Jack?"

“They’re gone, all their stuff is here and a burner phone.”

“Oh god, alright we’ll be right over with B-team.  See what we can find and try and figure this out.”

"I'll call you when we get back.  I love you."

"Love you too babe.  Be careful."  Jack ended the call and helped Ryan stand.  She picked up the skull mask and led him back down to the car.  

Back at the penthouse he shuffled to his room like a zombie and sat on his bed.  Jack had to take his jacket off and pushed him gently down.  She stayed with him until he had cried himself into a fitful sleep.  

Closing his door behind her she walked to the kitchen and found Geoff, Michael, Gavin and Lindsay quietly discussing something.  Lindsey saw Jack come in and hugged her.

"How's he doing?"

"Not good."  Jack pulled away from Lindsey and went to Geoff's side.  

"He looked so defeated.  I never thought I would see him like this, I think he's sleeping for now.”

"Well we know who took them, but it isn't good."  Geoff said wrapping an arm around her waist.

"I'll rip the bastards apart."  Michael rumbled darkly.

"It won't be that easy.  The Resurrection is bad news,"

"What do they want with them?"

"Nothing,"  Michael handed Jack the phone.  There was nothing there, meaning it was a means of contacting them when the Resurrection was ready to give their demands.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kristy woke with her head pounding, she tried to remember what happened but was met with only pain and drowsiness.  Shaking her head to try and clear it she managed to open her eyes and blink a few times to adjust to the light.  Her hands were chained above her head and anchored in the brick wall, the most she could do was just sit there.  The tape on her mouth itched and pulled painfully when she tried to work it off.

She could see Jeremy on the other wall to her right, cuffed to what looked like a dentist’s chair. Kristy huffed and looked around the bleak room for something she could use.  After finding an expected nothing she heard Jeremy wake up.  He was groggy but alive.

It wasn't long before the door opened and two goons dressed in red and black entered followed by someone that made Kristy's heart stop.  It was him, the guy who had shot her dad.  She felt the urge to rip the green eyes from his skull and wondered if she had been hanging around Ryan too much.  He knelt in front of her and grabbed her chin, not hard enough to hurt her but enough to keep her head.  She jerked away and he moved to Jeremy.  

"What a catch, two of Ramsey's little pets.  How exciting, it's almost like Christmas morning."  He said as he stood,  "Oh what fun I'll have jerking Ramsey around with you two as collateral.  But don't worry this won't hurt a bit.  It will hurt a lot."

He turned to her.

"I know you, you’re Peake’s little spawn aren’t you.  You got away before we could get the chance to know each other better."  He motioned to one of his men who pulled out a phone and readied it.  

With no warning a fist connected with her left cheek and her head snapped to the side.  She moved her jaw and turned to face him again, he now held a knife loosely in his grip.  He held her face and drew the point across her cheek, the blood ran down her face as she winced but refused to make any other sound.  

He nodded to the man with the phone, Kristy heard him calling someone as she looked to Jeremy for any sort of reassurance.  The phone rang, she recognized Jack's voice. 

"You are one insane bastard, if you think this is some kind of. . ."

"Now now, don't be hasty.  That will only make this harder on everyone, especially your pets.  Where's Ramsey?  I want to talk with him."

"Don't you fucking worry, I'm right here you prick.  Give me back my crew and I might kill you quickly or I'll let Vagabond have his fun with you."

"Ah Geoffrey, don't make threats you can't carry out.  You have no idea where we are and you don't want to risk losing a crew member.  I suppose you'd like to see them, you might become more cooperative."  

He stepped to the side to reveal his hostages.  

"If you dare touch them, I'll personally send you to hell myself."  Michael sounded through the speakers.

"Is the rest of the crew there too?  Good then you can all see what the consequence of a wrong step will entail."  He pulled something from his holster and as soon as he pointed it at Kristy, all she felt was a blinding white pain everywhere.  She couldn't hold back the scream as the electricity flowed through her body.  He let go of the trigger and she gasped for breath, her ears were ringing but she still heard Jack yell her name.  

Jeremy was writhing a few seconds after her and was spitting curses at the man holding the taser.  

“Stop, stop. What do you want?” 

“No Geoff don’t give the fucker shit, it’s-argh!” another hit came across her face and as the darkness flooded her mind she didn't hear Jeremy trying to get her attention and she blacked out.

When she woke up Jeremy was more battered than before, he saw she was awake and was instantly worrying over her.

"How ya feelin' kid?"

"Like I got hit by your truck a few times."  She tried to lighten the mood.  

"I'm sorry, this is all my fault."

"It's on both of us."

"They'll come for us, I know they will."  Jeremy seriously hoped the tracking chip implanted in his ass was transmitting their location.  He was never so happy to have lost that bet with Jack and Lindsey last year.  

"If I don't die first."

"Hey," Jeremy made her look at him.  

"Just keep your head, don't let them in there.  Trust me, that's the only thing they can't take away easily." 

She nodded, she was about to tell him not to worry when the door opened.  

The man stepped through with a guard pushing a cart, she couldn't see what was on it but had a pretty good guess that it was anything he wanted to torture them with.  

The taser barbs were still in her chest and ribs and he attached the wires to a panel she assumed would send the voltage through her again.  

He did the same with the two barbs in jeremy and casually walked over to the cart and carefully selected a scalpel and walked over to her and kneeled to her level.

“How is it that the Fakes seem to survive every fight and idiotic plan Ramsay comes up with.  Even fatal wounds heal and you’re back in action the next week.  Walking around like gods, but even a god can be killed.”    His eyes tried to pierce her own as he tried to break her down.

“Your father did surprise me a bit though.” 

He studied her face before lightly pressing the blade to her jugular  She didn't dare move in case she accidentally killed herself. 

“He never did tell me how the immortality worked.  But after some research and tracking down the others from Fake Haus I think I’ve finally pegged it down.” Kristy stared him down as he grinned evilly at her. 

“Now this can go two ways, either you start explaining or your little girl is going to become very bad off.  Answer my questions and she lives through this with only a few scars.”  

Kristy held Jeremy's gaze and silently pleaded for him to say nothing.  The man continued.

“How does it work?”

Jeremy said nothing.

“I'm talking to you pipsqueek.  Tell me how it works. . .”  He took the blade from her neck and made a long score on her collar bone.  The blood welled and started to drip,

“If you are going to be stubborn then so be it.”  he plunged the blade and pulled up, ripping the skin open as Kristy yelped.  

Jeremy made to say something when she gave him another look.  

“I could kill you but you’re much too valuable to lose.”  He moved on to Jeremy and instead of using the scalpel he put it down and picked up a needle and collection bag.  He stuck it in the shorter man’s arm before checking the bag was secure and leaving.

They were left alone for what seemed like hours until a guard came in to see to their wounds and give them some water.  He was rough and only cleaned enough to keep from immediate infection.  

Jeremy knew he could make it out of this but Kristy was another story.  She couldn't just revive her way out and he refused to leave her here alone.  

All they could do was wait as what he assumed were days dragged on.  The man who they learned was called Edgar, came in frequently to take them to separate interrogation rooms.  He was brutal and was using them as experiments.

He had killed Jeremy multiple times different ways and watched the regenerations and probably took notes on how long each different wound took to heal and the amount of damage could be inflicted.  

After being cut up, burned alive, shot, electrocuted, suffocated and drowned among other things, Jeremy was reaching the end of his mental strength and there wasn't much left holding Kristy together, she was cut and bruised everywhere not to mention the burns from the taser.  

Edgar never killed her but after he left all she could do was tremble.  He had heard her crying when she thought he was sleeping, her knees pulled to her chest.  Trying to hide from everything, she wouldn't even talk to him when they were alone.  

Jeremy didn’t know how much longer she would last, and she wasn’t immortal like he was.  Maybe that would be for the best but he didn’t want to lose her.  Kristy was family and he wasn’t going to leave her behind.  


	4. Welcome to Hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Torture warning. I apologize now.

Kristy woke with her head pounding, she tried to remember what happened but was met with only pain and drowsiness.  Shaking her head to try and clear it she managed to open her eyes and blink a few times to adjust to the light.  Her hands were chained above her head and anchored in the brick wall, the most she could do was just sit there.  The tape on her mouth itched and pulled painfully when she tried to work it off.

She could see Jeremy on the other wall to her right, cuffed to what looked like a dentist’s chair. Kristy huffed and looked around the bleak room for something she could use.  After finding an expected nothing she heard Jeremy wake up.  He was groggy but alive.

It wasn't long before the door opened and two goons dressed in red and black entered followed by someone that made Kristy's heart stop.  It was him, the guy who had shot her dad.  She felt the urge to rip the green eyes from his skull and wondered if she had been hanging around Ryan too much.  He knelt in front of her and grabbed her chin, not hard enough to hurt her but enough to keep her head.  She jerked away and he moved to Jeremy.  

"What a catch, two of Ramsey's little pets.  How exciting, it's almost like Christmas morning."  He said as he stood,  "Oh what fun I'll have jerking Ramsey around with you two as collateral.  But don't worry this won't hurt a bit.  It will hurt a lot."

He turned to her.

"I know you, you’re Peake’s little spawn aren’t you.  You got away before we could get the chance to know each other better."  He motioned to one of his men who pulled out a phone and readied it.  

With no warning a fist connected with her left cheek and her head snapped to the side.  She moved her jaw and turned to face him again, he now held a knife loosely in his grip.  He held her face and drew the point across her cheek, the blood ran down her face as she winced but refused to make any other sound.  

He nodded to the man with the phone, Kristy heard him calling someone as she looked to Jeremy for any sort of reassurance.  The phone rang, she recognized Jack's voice. 

"You are one insane bastard, if you think this is some kind of. . ."

"Now now, don't be hasty.  That will only make this harder on everyone, especially your pets.  Where's Ramsey?  I want to talk with him."

"Don't you fucking worry, I'm right here you prick.  Give me back my crew and I might kill you quickly or I'll let Vagabond have his fun with you."

"Ah Geoffrey, don't make threats you can't carry out.  You have no idea where we are and you don't want to risk losing a crew member.  I suppose you'd like to see them, you might become more cooperative."  

He stepped to the side to reveal his hostages.  

"If you dare touch them, I'll personally send you to hell myself."  Michael sounded through the speakers.

"Is the rest of the crew there too?  Good then you can all see what the consequence of a wrong step will entail."  He pulled something from his holster and as soon as he pointed it at Kristy, all she felt was a blinding white pain everywhere.  She couldn't hold back the scream as the electricity flowed through her body.  He let go of the trigger and she gasped for breath, her ears were ringing but she still heard Jack yell her name.  

Jeremy was writhing a few seconds after her and was spitting curses at the man holding the taser.  

“Stop, stop. What do you want?” 

“No Geoff don’t give the fucker shit, it’s-argh!” another hit came across her face and as the darkness flooded her mind she didn't hear Jeremy trying to get her attention and she blacked out.

When she woke up Jeremy was more battered than before, he saw she was awake and was instantly worrying over her.

"How ya feelin' kid?"

"Like I got hit by your truck a few times."  She tried to lighten the mood.  

"I'm sorry, this is all my fault."

"It's on both of us."

"They'll come for us, I know they will."  Jeremy seriously hoped the tracking chip implanted in his ass was transmitting their location.  He was never so happy to have lost that bet with Jack and Lindsey last year.  

"If I don't die first."

"Hey," Jeremy made her look at him.  

"Just keep your head, don't let them in there.  Trust me, that's the only thing they can't take away easily." 

She nodded, she was about to tell him not to worry when the door opened.  

The man stepped through with a guard pushing a cart, she couldn't see what was on it but had a pretty good guess that it was anything he wanted to torture them with.  

The taser barbs were still in her chest and ribs and he attached the wires to a panel she assumed would send the voltage through her again.  

He did the same with the two barbs in jeremy and casually walked over to the cart and carefully selected a scalpel and walked over to her and kneeled to her level.

“How is it that the Fakes seem to survive every fight and idiotic plan Ramsay comes up with.  Even fatal wounds heal and you’re back in action the next week.  Walking around like gods, but even a god can be killed.”    His eyes tried to pierce her own as he tried to break her down.

“Your father did surprise me a bit though.” 

He studied her face before lightly pressing the blade to her jugular  She didn't dare move in case she accidentally killed herself. 

“He never did tell me how the immortality worked.  But after some research and tracking down the others from Fake Haus I think I’ve finally pegged it down.” Kristy stared him down as he grinned evilly at her. 

“Now this can go two ways, either you start explaining or your little girl is going to become very bad off.  Answer my questions and she lives through this with only a few scars.”  

Kristy held Jeremy's gaze and silently pleaded for him to say nothing.  The man continued.

“How does it work?”

Jeremy said nothing.

“I'm talking to you pipsqueek.  Tell me how it works. . .”  He took the blade from her neck and made a long score on her collar bone.  The blood welled and started to drip,

“If you are going to be stubborn then so be it.”  he plunged the blade and pulled up, ripping the skin open as Kristy yelped.  

Jeremy made to say something when she gave him another look.  

“I could kill you but you’re much too valuable to lose.”  He moved on to Jeremy and instead of using the scalpel he put it down and picked up a needle and collection bag.  He stuck it in the shorter man’s arm before checking the bag was secure and leaving.

They were left alone for what seemed like hours until a guard came in to see to their wounds and give them some water.  He was rough and only cleaned enough to keep from immediate infection.  

Jeremy knew he could make it out of this but Kristy was another story.  She couldn't just revive her way out and he refused to leave her here alone.  

All they could do was wait as what he assumed were days dragged on.  The man who they learned was called Edgar, came in frequently to take them to separate interrogation rooms.  He was brutal and was using them as experiments.

He had killed Jeremy multiple times different ways and watched the regenerations and probably took notes on how long each different wound took to heal and the amount of damage could be inflicted.  

After being cut up, burned alive, shot, electrocuted, suffocated and drowned among other things, Jeremy was reaching the end of his mental strength and there wasn't much left holding Kristy together, she was cut and bruised everywhere not to mention the burns from the taser.  

Edgar never killed her but after he left all she could do was tremble.  He had heard her crying when she thought he was sleeping, her knees pulled to her chest.  Trying to hide from everything, she wouldn't even talk to him when they were alone.  

Jeremy didn’t know how much longer she would last, and she wasn’t immortal like he was.  Maybe that would be for the best but he didn’t want to lose her.  Kristy was family and he wasn’t going to leave her behind.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The entire crew except Ryan were working on a plan of attack.  After discovering Jeremy's tracking chip was transmitting a signal they had tracked them down to an abandoned apartment complex on a shared edge of their territories.  They knew the Resurrection would have a lot of security and that was the only thing stopping them from going right then.  

"Has anyone checked on Ryan lately?"  Geoff asked Jack quietly after the boys had left to ask in some favors.  Jack nodded, she told Geoff that he hadn't been eating and only laid on his bed looking at an old photo book he refused to let anyone look in.  Jack knew it was from his old life with the exception of the picture they had taken they day the adopted Kristy into the crew and one that she had asked him to take with her in their matching jackets.  

It took two weeks to get everything they needed and the had set the date.  They had everything they needed and were ready, only then did Ryan seem to stir from his stupor and even then it was mostly Vagabond.

The next morning was spent gathering weapons and ammo, Michael had made up some sticky bombs that he promised would do minimal damage to the structure and went over where to place them.  Ryan disappeared for a while and Jack found him practicing throwing his knives.  He stopped when he heard Jack at the door,

"We'll get her back."  Jack assured him as his shoulders sagged some.

"What if we took too long?"

"We'll get them back, we always do."

Ryan only nodded and pulled his knives from the wall and tucked them into the holsters on his thighs.  They went to the heist room when they heard Geoff call for a meeting.

"Alright, you all know what you're supposed to be doing."  He started when they were all present.  

"I won't bother going over it again.  You don't need to be reminded what's at stake here.  Yes Ryan?"  He said seeing him with his hand raised.

"You know by now who Kristy is, she is my daughter and I want nothing more to get her and Jeremy back alive and well.  I'm sorry if I've been a pain through all of this and you have the right to know why I've been such an ass."

"You have nothing to apologize for, a father has the right to be protective."  Michael said, speaking for everyone.  

"Alright let's do this for family!"  Geoff announced and they all went to leave.  

They pulled up a block down from the building and started walking.  Michael handed out explosives to everyone and they placed them.  They were standing on the roof of the next building, Geoff nodded they were ready.

"Eat this fuckers."  He said as he pushed the detonator and immediately there was a loud explosion and smoke.  They jumped the gap to the other roof and made their way down the three flights of stairs, gunning down anyone in their path.  Some of B-team waited at the ground floor to cover their escape route while the crew made their way down to the basement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Edgar had come to take her away again and grabbed her roughly.  She chose to save her strength and hope there was a chance she could escape.  He lead her to a cement room and attached the cuffs above her head to the post in the center of the room.  He grabbed her by the throat, not hard enough to choke but he was leaving bruises.

Kristy felt her heart pounding as he produced a scalpel and began to cut at her ribs.  He made a few incisions over her rib bones and stepped back.

“What a good little pet you make,”  he purred in her ear, “I wonder what will finally make you beg for me.”

Kristy struggled to keep looking ahead, she wouldn’t let him get to her.  He grazed his fingers down her cut side and dug his fingers into the top cut, coaxing a yelp from the girl.

He continued to dig his fingers into her flesh as she cried out.  He pulled his hand away and watched as the girl sucked in air into bruised lungs.  As she gasped for breath he dug the blade into her hip and dragged the blade past her bone.  He pulled away and put the blade away going for a longer knife.

When he approached her Kristy spat in his face.  He growled and closed his hand on her throat, 

“You won’t talk, I see that now.”  He ran his hands down her sides, “But I will break you, and bend you to me.  Ramsey and your little family will be devastated.”  

He brought the knife down into her leg and jumped back in surprise when she started to laugh.  He continued to cut her up and she only continued to laugh maniacally.  He pulled his gun and leveled it at her heart.  She grinned through a bruised face and watched him as he pulled the trigger and she screamed. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jeremy’s head snapped up when he heard a blood curdling scream.  He knew it had to be Kristy and struggled against his cuffs.  He felt his left thumb pop and he slid his hand out of the cuff.  He struggled with the right as the building shook from an explosion.

“Oh thank God,”  

Jeremy winced as his right thumb dislocated and slid through the cuff.  He relocated both before easing off the chair.  His body screamed as multiple wounds reopened and he hobbled to the door.  He could hear the crew searching for them and calling out for them,

“Hey!  What took you so long?”

“Jeremy!  Hold on we’re gonna get you out.”  Geoff called out.  The door swung open and Michael rushed to the shorter lad’s side and helped him hobble out the door.

“Man you look like shit.”

“Thanks Michael, you always know how to make a guy feel special”

“Where’s Kristy?”  Ryan searched the barren room.  “Jeremy please where is she?”

“Edgar took her earlier, they didn’t come back.”  He told the man in the mask.  Ryan took off down the hall, Michael handed Jeremy to Gavin and took off after Ryan.

Ryan was calling for her down the hall as Michael checked the rooms.

“Bragg can you get any cameras on Kristy?”  Geoff radioed the techie back at HQ.  

“I’ve got nothing on any cameras, wait.”  Matt tapped away on his keyboard,  “In the next hallway it’s gonna be the third door on your left, the camera’s been disconnected he could be hiding out there there.”  He guided Ryan and Michael.

Michael didn’t bother picking the lock and instead charged and broke the door down.  Ryan followed and almost fell.  

Kristy was hanging by her wrists, but it was the bleeding gun shot in her chest that kicked him into motion.  Michael held her as Ryan broke the cuffs and they lowered her to the floor.

Jack was next to them in an instant and Ryan was taking off his shirt for Jack to use as bandages.  He held Kristy’s hand as she gasped for air, her eyes were glassy as she silently pleaded for help.  

“I got you Kris, Ok? Don’t give up on us.”  he told her as Jack bound her chest.  He pulled off his jacket to cover her before gently picking her up and following the others out of the building.  They were on the roof when shots rang out, Edgar was on the other side of the street with a rifle aimed at them.  They ran for the chopper and were almost home free when the last shot rang and the girl in Ryan’s arms shuddered and screamed.  He leapt into the chopper after the others and Jack took off.

She headed for the hospital as Michael and Ryan desperately tried to keep the girl alive.  Ryan never stopped talking to her,

“Come on Kris, you gotta hold on a little longer.  I can't lose my little girl again.”  He had taken off his mask and she weakly raised her hand to his chest over his heart.  

“Dad. . .”  she whispered before going limp.  Michael straddled her chest and started chest compressions while Ryan pleaded with her.   They landed at the hospital and she choked back to life as the nurses took her from their care.  Geoff and Michael had to hold Ryan in the chopper as they started to off.  

“No I need to be there.  She needs me!”

“Ryan you can’t help her, not like this.”  Geoff yelled at the man.  Ryan didn’t listen and jumped out and ran for the door.

“Geoff we need to move, we can’t stay here.”  Jack told him as she continued flying away.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryan ran after the stretcher and watched it disappear into a room.  He stood in the hall, ignoring the looks doctors and nurses were giving him.  He sat against the wall and started to cry into his arms.  

Trevor immediately spotted Ryan huddled against the wall and called to Lindsey.  They didn’t say anything and just sat with him waiting for the rest of the crew.  Trevor offered a rag to wipe his face paint off which Ryan took and cleaned his face.  Lindsey tried to comfort Ryan, the others ran up.  Geoff pulled Trevor aside and Jack took his spot next to Ryan,

“Anything?”

Trevor shook his head,

“Nothing, but I don’t think she’s been in long.”  

Geoff sighed and put his hand on the younger man’s shoulder, Trevor tried to offer a smile but they both knew the outcome.  

“Do you want me to start tracking him down?”

“No, no.  We’ll wait, Ryan needs us right now and we can’t be in two places at once.”  

Trevor made to argue when Geoff stopped him,

“That son of a bitch will pay, but not right now.”  

The two walked back to the group and waited.  Their hearts stopped when the doctor came out, she cleared her throat.

“Are you her family?”  she asked,  Geoff nodded and she continued.

“I’m sorry, we did all that we could.  She was extremely dehydrated and the multiple deep lacerations along with the gun shot there was very little chance of survival.”

“Oh god,”  Jack whispered and hugged Ryan closer.  

“She’s ready to take home if you’d like.”

“Thank you doctor.”  Geoff answered, she nodded and left for her next patients.

“Ryan I’m so sorry,”  Lindsey said as she wiped away tears and Michael buried his head in her back.  Ryan stood and looked to the room,

“Come on, Let’s take our girl home.”  Geoff encouraged.  Ryan only nodded and opened the door.  Kristy was laid on the bed and had been cleaned up and she had been redressed.   Ryan picked her up and silently carried her out. 

Geoff called ahead to tell everyone what happened, the building was quiet when the somber parade made their way to Kristy's old room.  Ryan laid her on the bed and smoothed her hair from her face.  

"Now what?"  Gavin asked sadly.  This was something that didn't happen with the crew, it couldn't and this was a concept of loss that shrouded pasts they'd all wished to forget.  They stood in silence as Ryan sat next to her bed,

"She'll come back."  Was all he said.

"Ryan,"  Jack sighed, 

"She has to come back."  

Not wanting to argue with him Jack dropped it and let him have hope.

"We’ll leave you alone for a while"  Geoff said.  Ryan only nodded and continued watching, waiting for any sign of life from the still body.  They left them there for a while, they all needed a drink and Jack went to check on Jeremy.  He was awake when she came in.  

“What happened?”

“We got her to the hospital, but. . .”

“Jack don’t toy with me please, just tell me.”

“Kristy’s gone.  She died at the hospital.”  Jack told him.

“Damn it!”  He yelled and threw his pillow.  “Damn it,”

“Jeremy,”

“No Jack it’s my fault.  It was my job to protect her and I failed.”   He sobbed.  Jack hugged him as he cried and reassured him.

“This is not your fault.  No one here blames you, It’s Edgar’s fault and he will pay.”

Jeremy only nodded.  Jack carded her fingers through the vibrant hair, Jeremy relaxed and Jack felt him fall asleep.  She laid him back down and closed his door.

Lindsey went to check on Ryan.  He was just sitting there watching for any change.

"Ryan, go relax for a while."  She urged,

"What if she wakes up?"

"Just for a few minutes Ryan, let me at least get her in some better clothes."  After a moment he nodded and stood, walking out the door he stopped.

"Go, I promise to get you when I’m done."  Lindsey gently ushered him out and closed the door.  Jack had pulled out a pair of jeans and a dark blue shirt from the dresser earlier, Lindsey worked on getting the clothes from the hospital off.  The sight beneath broke her heart.  There were taser burns and countless other cuts and bruises covering her body.  

The gun shot at her shoulder had torn a half inch diameter hole straight through above the one Edgar had made.  They had pulled it out at the hospital and Ryan had insisted on keeping it.  

"Poor girl," Lindsey brushed hair from the lifeless face when she saw the extent of her injuries.

Lindsey finished getting her dressed and Ryan returned to watch over her.  

They all watched the clock, as minutes slowly turned to hours.  Almost seven hours later they gave up what little hope they had allowed themselves.

They heard the door click, and Ryan appeared in the doorway.  He surprised everyone by grabbing the bottle of whiskey from the table and taking a long drink.  He sat and continued taking drinks while they all sat in silence.  

“How are you doing?”  Geoff asked him.  

“What do you think?”  Ryan answered taking another drink from the bottle.

"It feels lonely, like something's missing."  Gavin said to no one in particular.

"We are missing something.  And if we couldn't save her, then you can be damn sure that bastard is going to pay in blood."  Geoff spat.  He poured another round for everyone before raising his glass.

"To taking down Edgar once and for all, for Kristy."

"For Kristy,"  they replied and downed the shots.  

They stumbled to bed and thanks to the sheer amount of alcohol in their systems were able to sleep for few hours.  Giving them all a brief respite, until a scream tore through the penthouse.


	5. New Begginings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again this chapter does contain Torture.

As a scream shattered the eerie silence of the penthouse, everyone was up in an instant.  Jack rushed from her and Geoff's room and found that it was coming from Kristy's room.  The door was already open and Jack’s hand flew to her mouth.

Sitting on the bed was Ryan holding and rocking Kristy, but it wasn't him screaming.  He was muttering and trying to soothe the screaming girl in his arms.  He was crying and pressing a kiss on the top of her head.

"It's ok I'm here, I'm here.  You're safe, I've got you."  He said, rocking her and holding her tightly to keep from hurting herself as she thrashed.  

"What's going on in. . .here?"  Geoff walked up groggily and paused as he saw the scene in front of him.  

Jack told him as the others arrived.  After getting over the initial shock, Jack convinced them to let Ryan handle it while they waited in the living room.

Her screaming eventually worked down to whimpering and Ryan woke her up, bringing her back.

She pushed him away at first, eyes wild as she backed away, not recognizing him.

"Kristy it's me, it's me.  I'm not going to hurt you."

At hearing his voice she dropped out of the trance, blue eyes met blue eyes and she leapt into his arms.  Ryan could feel her trembling as she buried her head in his chest.

"Hey it's alright, he can't get you here."

He wiped away the tears, 

"He won't ever touch you again,"

"Dad,"  her voice cracked.

"Kristy, I'm sorry,”  he was crying too.

They sat there for a few minutes, Ryan regained some of his composure and made sure Kristy was ready for visitors.  When she nodded she was ready he tried to go to the door.  A hand gripping his sleeve stopped him before he made it off the bed.

“Don't leave, please.  Don't leave me alone.”  

“I'm not going anywhere, I'm just opening the door.” He kissed the top of her head, she let go but never took her eyes off him.  

The crew entered timidly, Jeremy was the first to react.  

“Kris?” He cautiously took a step forward, and was surprised when she reached for him and threw her arms around him.  

“I’m so sorry Kris, everything that happened. . .”  He told her as he hugged her back.

“No, Jeremy it’s ok.  I don’t blame you.”  She said.  Kristy pulled back and was soon caught up in a lad group hug.  

“Don’t ever scare us like that again.”  Michael told her,

“I don’t plan on it.”  she told him as he ruffled her hair.  Jack hugged her and told her to get some rest before shooing the crew from her room.  Ryan stayed behind and sat with her.

“Kris, about all of this. . .”

“It doesn’t matter.  I don’t know why you gave me up but you must have been trying to protect me.”

“You deserve to know the truth.”  Ryan sat next to her and pulled her close,

“I loved you and your mother very much.  When you were only a week old, your mom was shot and when I was finally able to get you back I had no money so I started doing some work for Peake’s crew and eventually got hurt and died.  When I woke up James and Bruce told me that Matt had already taken you in and that you were happy and safe.  I couldn’t justify bringing you down the road I took so I left, thinking you were better off without me.”

Kristy was silent as she processed everything.  

“I forgive you,”  She told him and hugged him, “you were only trying to protect me.”  

“I’m glad you think that.”  Ryan told her, “I was worried you would hate me.”

“I don’t hate you, I don’t think I could.”  

Ryan smiled and stayed with her until she fell asleep.  He closed her door and went back to his own room.

It took a few days for Kristy to get her strength back but she was different.  She was repressing the memories and Jack became worried when the girl's nightmares got worse.  

The bags under her eyes showed that she was refusing to sleep for fear of reliving the nightmare and she panicked when she was alone.

One night she managed to fall asleep, she had one of the worst terrors yet.  But when Ryan tried to calm her down she grabbed the knife hidden in her bed and and slashed his chest in her sleep.  He got her calmed down without waking her up before Jack pointed out the blood seeping through his shirt.  

Ryan just shrugged it off but Jack and Lindsey finally had enough and made Kristy sit down when the guys had left to dig up anything they could about what had happened.  

"Seriously I'm fine."

"No your not, and you're allowed to not be fine."  Jack insisted.

"Don't let this destroy you, let us help."  She pleaded slightly.  Not letting up her stare.  

"Why do you care?  Just leave me alone, like everyone else."  She yelled,

"Every time I look in a mirror and see the scars I want to curl up and hide, I can't sleep because that's all I see.  If I could stay dead I probably would have already pulled the trigger just so it would stop.  I'm just a burden."  She turned and punched a hole in the wall, Jack stopped her before she put another hole in the wall.  She was crying and Jack pulled her to the couch.

"Don't you ever say that.  You are not a burden, and you never have been."  Jack told her,

"How could you ever think that?  Come here and let me look at you hand."  

Kristy sniffed and let Jack examine the bloody knuckles.  Lindsey had already grabbed the medical kit and opened it on the coffee table.  Jack cleaned and wrapped Kristy's hand.  

"I'm sorry, I'm such a fuck up."

"Damn it Kristy, stop saying that shit.  I see in front of me a beautiful, smart and brave young woman who has gone through hell and back.  You're bound to carry a few scars from that."  Jack put her hands on her shoulders,

"You don't have to go through this alone, that's what family is for.  You mean the world to us, it almost destroyed us when we though we lost you."  

"Jack's right, we're here for you.  We always will be, same goes for the guys."  Lindsey added sitting on the arm of the couch. 

"We'll get through this mess together just like we have before and will probably do for years after."

"Thank you.  I'm sorry I yelled. . ."

"You're scared and that’s alright.  Just know you can talk to us about it, Ryan doesn't have to know."  

Kristy felt relieved that they wouldn't tell her father.  She didn't want him to worry about her more than he already did.

They heard the front door open and Jack winked as she she stood and greeted Geoff.  The others followed and came in.  Michael came over and kissed Lindsey quick before heading off to shower which prompted Lindsey to follow.  

Ryan ruffled his daughter's hair, when she went to smack his hand away he caught it and looked questioningly at the bandage wrapped around it.

"I might of punched the wall."  She said sheepishly.  He looked around and saw the hole she had left.  He smiled,

"I think that's the wall I punched first too."  He let the subject drop and left to wash his makeup off.  

When he came back she surprised him,

"Teach me."

"Teach you what?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

Ryan sighed, he had been afraid of this.

"That isn't something you just learn.  It changes you, why do you think I've never let you watch before?"

"I'm not who I was before.  I can handle it."  

Ryan recognized the same sharpness in her eyes that the Vagabond would get when he wanted blood.  

"Absolutely not.  End of discussion."

"Why not give me one good reason."

"You don't need to know.  It's for your own good, I won't let you live with same demons I do."  

"So I'm not strong enough is what your saying?"  She snapped,

"That's not what I'm saying. . ." 

"No you don't think I can handle it.  You can't always be there to protect me."

"That's not what I'm saying and you know it.  And I'm trying to protect you by saying no to this.  That's the end of this discussion."  He yelled,

She stormed off, and soon there was the familiar roar of a bike driving away.  

Jeremy walked in and heard the last of the fight.  

“You gonna go after her?”

Ryan sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“I should, she won't listen though.”

“I'll go.”  Jeremy told him and grabbed his keys.  

“No I don't want to cause you any trouble.”

“Seriously Ryan, it's fine.  From the sounds of it you both need to cool off.  I'll go find her and talk to her.”  he was walking out the door when he heard Ryan say thanks.  

“Hey just because she's your kid doesn't mean she isn't my little sister.”  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It didn't take long for Jeremy to spot the bike near the park.  He parked next to it and saw the familiar auburn hair on a bench.  He walked towards her cautiously before saying something to her.  

“Hey, kid.”

“You here to track me down and bring me back.”  

“No just wanted to make sure you were alright, not breaking any laws without us.”  He sat next to her,

“What were you even fighting about?”

“He thinks that I shouldn't learn what he does because I'm not strong enough to handle it.”

“Kristy, I'm not siding against you but what Ryan does isn't pretty.  I've watched him before and it's not something to take lightly.  Why would you even want to learn that shit?”  She looked away from him and messed with the bandage on her hand.  

“You want to hurt him don't you? Edgar.”  He understood, 

“That won't change what happened, you know that.”

“Then what do I do.  I feel like I don’t know who I am any more, the panic attacks and everything else is so exhausting that I barely get out of bed some days.”

He could tell she was getting overwhelmed and put an arm around her.  She leaned into him and tried to ward off the oncoming panic attack.

“Hey, you're gonna be a little fucked up from all of that and it's ok.  We all have our own hell we live with and it gets easier, you just have to learn to ride it out.  I know it seems hard, but we’re here for you.  You know we will always listen, especially me.”

Her breathing became more even and she sat up.  He decided then that maybe she did need revenge to set her on track again. 

“Come on let's get back before they send out the search parties.”  she nodded and head back towards her bike.  Jeremy followed behind and they made their way back home.  When they got back Ryan was gone and Kristy went into the bathroom.  

She found the sleeping pills Jack had gotten for her and read the label.  She popped three and went to her room and fell into bed just as her body went numb and she fell asleep.  

The next morning she woke up a little groggy and trudged into the kitchen where Jack was already up and making breakfast.  

“Oh that smells good.”

“Hey,”  Jack said and put a plate in front of her.

“French toast, your favorite.”

“What’s the occasion?” Kristy asked, shoving a forkful into her mouth.

“Oh not much, did you take those pills last night?”

“Yeah,”

“Well they must have worked, you didn’t have a terror last night.”

Kristy only nodded and continued to eat.  Jeremy was the next one up and moving and joined Kristy at the table.  Before long everyone except Ryan had gone through or sat down to eat.

“Where’s Ryan?”  Gavin asked, Kristy shrugged and Geoff answered the brit.

“He had to go pick up some supplies at the docks this morning with Treyco.”

The others had stuff to do and slowly filtered out of the penthouse.  Jeremy stayed with Kristy and told her that Gavin had found a lead on the Resurrection. 

“Do you need anything before I leave?”

“I’ll be fine, if I need anything Trevor and Matt are downstairs.”

Jeremy nodded and grabbed his keys before reminding her to call him if she needed.  When she heard the truck pull out she went to her room.  

Kristy tried to keep the idea of hunting down the lead Gavin had found away but she couldn’t just let it go.  She grabbed her knife and pistols and jacket before heading towards Gavin’s door, peeking around she made sure the room was empty and looked through the files for the lead.

She found it easily under a file labeled Family Matters and looked for the lead.  When she pulled up the document she recognized the man pictured, he had been their jailer.  Kristy studied the information and backed out of the file, she made sure to cover her tracks and turned the computer back off.  

Kristy stopped by the armory and grabbed an extra bandana to cover her face.  She made sure to leave without being on camera and went out the fire escape.  Lucky for her someone left their car unlocked and she ‘borrowed’ it.  The info Gavin had said that the guy would be in the warehouse district and should be just getting off guard duty.  Kristy drove there and parked a little ways away and waited.  

It wasn’t long before she saw him come around the corner and get into a car, she tailed him a few cars behind and watched as he pulled into a parking garage.  She pulled in and parked a row away from him, and with no one else in the garage she made her move.  He was completely unaware of her presence until she pistol whipped the back of his head and he dropped.

Kristy used the cuffs on him to chain him and dragged him to her car and threw him unceremoniously in the trunk.  She jumped back into the car and tried to think of where she could take this guy.  All of the safehouses were on Gavin’s feed, except the old bunker built into the base of Chiliade, she could get the camera to download onto a flash drive and send any information she got back to the crew anonymously.  

She managed to get the guy into the bunker and chained up to metal chair before he woke up from his forced nap.  Kristy got the camera to download into the old computer and waited for her guest to come to his senses.  

When he finally stirred, Kristy opened the door and slammed it behind her.  The man flinched at the sound and waited until Kristy walked in front of him to start yelling obscenities at her.

“What the Hell is this?  Who sent some little slut in here?”  He was really loud in the small room.  Kristy stayed silent and pulled her knife slowly, almost caressing the blade.  He stopped yelling and laughed,

“You think I’m gonna talk for some skank?  Do you even know how to use a blade baby?” he jeered at her.  He continued until the blade was buried into his hand, he yelled as Kristy twisted and popped the bones apart.  

“You have information I need,”  She told him, yanking his head back.

“Well that sucks cock for you, now why don’t you get to mine?”  He yelled again as she pulled the knife from his hand.  

“Wrong answer, where is Edgar?”   He said nothing,  “Tell me and you can live through this with only a few scars.”  She grabbed his hand and separated the next knuckle with a scream.  She continued until his right hand was a bloody mess.  

“Come now, just tell me and this will all be over.”  

The man was trembling, when he took too long to answer Kristy took the knife and carved into his chest.  He screamed as she continued to put a design in his skin.  When she started to peel the skin away he caved.

“Stop! Stop, I’ll tell you what you want just stop.”  Kristy stopped and pulled away.

“Where is Edgar hiding?”

“I don’t know,”  Kristy made to start carving again when he struggled away.

“Please all I know is that he’s waiting for something, or someone.  He has all of us on constant guard of every warehouse and safehouse.”

“Where are they?”

“I don’t know where they all are, I only go to the one in the warehouse district, the green house on 23rd and the strip club on 5th.  Please that’s all I know.”  He was crying. “Shhh, one more question and this can all be over.  Who would know the other spots?”

He kept trembling,

“Come on, just one more answer.”  she said sweetly.

“His name is Seth, he works in Edgar’s offices.  He would know all the locations for you.”  He was a mess, sobbing and bleeding everywhere.

“See that wasn’t so hard, now it will all be over.”  Kristy soothed as he whimpered. She let him out of the chair and guided him outside.

“Please, please.”

Kristy shushed him and pulled her pistol.  He tried to struggle away from her but was locked in her grip.  

“You promised, please.”

“I can’t have you going and snitching on me.  But I’ll let you in on a little secret,”  Kristy pulled the bandana away and his eyes widened.

“No, no you’re dead I-I watched him kill you.”

“Edgar was wrong, a god can’t be killed.”  She aimed at his heart and pulled the trigger.


	6. The Secrets We Keep

Kristy left him for the wolves and washed out the room before editing the footage and saving it to the flash drive.  She picked up an envelope and made sure to wipe her prints before dropping it off at one of their drop off points she knew someone would be at later today.  

She drove back to the city and snuck back into her room.  She had kept most of the blood off her and threw her clothes into the wash before she scrubbed any blood off her hands.  Deciding she was free of and evidence she went to sharpen her knife.

She sat in her room and turned on some music to keep away the silence.  The only other sound was the metallic sound of her knife against the sharpener.  It was calming, watching the edge sharpen and shape at her will.  

As she inspected the blade one last time she heard a knock on her door.

“Its open,” 

“Hey you got a minute?”  Ryan poked his head in.

“Sure,”  she set the blade down and waited for him to close the door.  He shifted uncomfortably and started to say something when Kristy beat him to it.

“It's fine, I was out of line earlier.”  Ryan looked at her shocked.

“Wait what?” 

“I'm apologizing.  You were probably right.”

“Probably?”  Kristy shrugged, he sat next to her.  He gestured to her knife, she handed it to him and he inspected the blade.

“Pretty good, sure you need it this sharp?”

Kristy grabbed a piece of string and dropped it on the blade, as it hit the edge it spit in two.  

“Can’t have a dull blade.”  she took the knife back from him and sheathed it.  

“Look,”  Ryan started, “I just want to protect you.  I lost you once, I don’t want to do that again.”  he wrapped an arm around her.

“I know you don’t really understand why but I need you to trust me on this.  Please?”

“Yeah Dad, I understand. I’m sorry.”

“Hey Geoff wants everyone in the heist room ASAP.”  Jeremy poked his head in the room.  

“Any idea why?”  Ryan asked as he stood.  Jeremy just shrugged his shoulders and walked out.  Kristy followed the two and sat between the lads and Ryan.  Geoff and Trevor were waiting for them and started as Gavin carried in his laptop and sat down.

“Earlier this week Gavvers found us a lead on one of Edgar’s men.  William Harvey, a lower level man on Edgar’s crew.”   Gavin pulled up his picture on 

“Wasn’t he our jailer.”  Jeremy asked Kristy next to him.  She nodded and Ryan grabbed her hand for reassurance.  

“We were going to grab him and see what we could find out about Edgar’s operation but we’ve run into some complications.”

“What kind of complications?”  Jack asked.

“Trevor found this today at one of our drop off locations.”  Geoff pulled the flash drive from his pocket.  He tossed it to Gavin who plugged it into his computer.  He opened the file and played the video.  Kristy watched without saying a word, no one seemed to recognize her in the video.  Everyone watched as William spilled everything he knew, then the video ended and the crew sat in silence.

“Damn,”  Jeremy said breaking the silence.

“Do we know who sent it to us?” Jack asked,

“Not a clue, all we know is that it’s a woman.  She’s pretty careful to not show her face or any other identifying trait.”

“She knows her way in an interrogation,”  

“She’s not bad but she still needs some work.” Ryan stated.

“Well she’s good enough to make Gavin gag.”  Jeremy pointed out.

“We have the information we need why don’t we check it out.”  Kristy said.  Geoff shook his head.

“We have information but we can’t charge in, this could be a trap.  We need to do some more research before jumping in.”  

“We need to be concerned about how this person knows our drop off points and knew we were after William.”

“No one has been in our system, I would know the second anyone tried to get in.”

“It could be coincidence that William was her target.  But her knowing the drop off is a little unsettling.”  Jack added.

“B-team is already working on the information from William.”  Trevor told them.

“I’ll check on our system and see if I can find out anything about our mystery girl.”  Gavin told them.  Geoff called the meeting to an end and left with Gavin and Jack to try and hunt down more leads.  

The lads stood and left for a weapons pickup with Ryan.  

“Hey, you gonna be okay here alone?”  Ryan asked Kristy before he left, she shrugged.

“I can hang here if you want, I’ve got a free day.”  Trevor offered.

Ryan looked to Kristy and she nodded.

“Thanks Trevor.”

“No problem, we can just hang out here.”  

Ryan nodded and kissed the top of his daughter’s head before shooting Trevor a look that told him that nothing better happen to Kristy while he was gone.  Trevor gave him a thumbs up and watched as the last of the main crew left.  

“So, what do you want to do.”  He asked, Kristy shrugged and sat on the couch.  

‘Well this is going great’ Trevor thought to himself.  He sat next to her and picked up the remote and flipped through the channels, When he looked back over at Kristy she had picked up a book and had her nose buried in it.  He peaked at the cover and couldn’t help the smirk his mouth twisted into.

“Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,  
Men were deceivers ever,-  
One foot in sea and one on shore,  
To one thing constant never.”

Kristy looked up impressed,

“By my troth, a good song.”  She replied, “and an ill singer, my lord.  I didn’t know you knew Shakespeare.”

“I studied theater during my two years of college.  I played Balthasar when we did Much Ado About Nothing.”  

“You never struck me as a theater nerd.”

“Neither did you.”  

“I was always a fan of dark comedies.”  Kristy admitted, Trevor laughed with her.  She leaned over to let him read with her.  Every now and then they would accidentally brush against each other and retreat a ways.  

They finished the Second and Third Act before Kristy dismissed herself and left Trevor for her room to shower.  Trevor smiled to himself, he hadn’t seen Kristy smile that much for weeks.  He turned the TV back on and settled on a rerun of Game of Thrones episodes.

Kristy smiled to herself as she closed her door, she had never seen Trevor so relaxed and well personable.  He had always been the rock of B-team and took his position seriously, which was a good thing but it was nice to see this other side of him.  

She shed her clothes and stepped into the shower, sighing as the warm water ran over her body.  She looked down at the scars that covered her skin, the overwhelming sense of dread hit her hard.  Her chest felt like lead and she grasped for anything to hold onto, suddenly she was back in the room.

Edgar loomed over her, a wicked grin played on his lips.  The blade in his hand glinted in the fluorescent light as he brought it through the skin on her thigh, the blood welled and pooled at her feet.  After four deep gashes decorated both of her thighs he moved to her ribs.  

He dug the blade over each scar on her ribs and laughed as the blood ran down her sides.  She cried out for him to stop and thrashed to get away.  Someone grabbed her and she screamed, they held her tighter and was saying something.  Kristy got an arm free and landed a hit before the iron grip was around her again.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trevor was starting to doze off when he heard Kristy cry out.  Worried, he went to the bathroom and knocked on the door.

“You alright Kris?”  He waited for an answer, he got it when he heard Kristy cry out again.  He tried to open the door but it was locked, he forced the lock open and barged in.  He grabbed a towel and opened the shower door, he threw the towel over Kristy and tried to hold her still.  She screamed and socked him in the jaw.

“Kristy! Kristy it’s me!”  He tried to tell her.  She continued to fight against him, yelling for Edgar to stop.

“Kris, he can’t hurt you!  It’s Trevor, you gotta snap out of it! Kristy!”  He tried again.

She suddenly quieted in his arms and he panicked,

“Trev?” she asked softly,

“Thank god,”  he sighed, “It’s alright, he can’t hurt you here.”  He held her as she started to cry.  She turned to grab onto him as if he would disappear, all he could do was let her work through it.  He then noticed the blood seeping through the towel.

“Let’s get you cleaned up,”  He told her, she weakly nodded and let him pick her up.  He set her down gently on the bathmat and grabbed the med kit.

“Can I?”  He asked, she nodded again.  Trevor carefully cleaned the gashes on her thighs, she would need stitches on one.  

“Kris?”  He waited for her to acknowledge him, “I’m gonna get you some clothes ok?  Stay here, I’ll be right back.”  He stood and went back to her room, He grabbed her a pair of sweatpants and a bra before heading back to the bathroom.

Kristy was sitting where he had left her.  He sat down with her again and pulled out the suture and threaded it.  

“I need to stitch this one up, it’s gonna hurt a little.”  He warned her and gently pinched the skin.  

Kristy winced as he pulled the needle through.  He kept them as straight as possible and bandaged the others. He turned as she dressed and felt himself blushing, realizing what had actually just happened.  

Trevor focused on the cuts on her ribs and was thankful she wouldn’t need any stitches and bandaged her up.  He helped her into a large hoodie and stayed with her for a few minutes.

“You okay?”  He asked her gently.

“I don’t know anymore.”  she shook her head.  Tears ran down her face again.

“Hey, hey.  It’s gonna be alright.”  He wiped her tears and tried to comfort her.  “I’m here for you, I won’t go anywhere.”

“I’m sorry, I’m such a pain.”

“No, don’t do that.  Okay?  None of this is your fault.”  He wrapped his arms around her again.  Kristy was still crying as he picked her up and moved her to her bed.  Trevor laid her down gently and was about to walk away when she held onto him tighter.

“No, don’t go.”

“I’ll be right back, I’m gonna grab your sleep meds.”  Kristy nodded and let him go.  

Trevor came back a minute later with a glass of water her meds and a sandwich.

“You need to eat.”  He insisted.  She took the sandwich and ate half before he let her have the pills and water.  She laid back down and her eyes started to drift shut, Trevor stood to leave when a weak hand grabbed at his shirt.  

“Stay?  Please?”  She pleaded.  Trevor smiled and pulled up a chair to sit with her.  She shook her head and pulled him to the bed.  He didn’t fight as she moved over to let him lay down next to her, he laid down and she curled next to him and laid her head on his chest.

When Trevor was sure she was asleep he sent a text to the crew to let them know what had happened.  He laid with her until he heard the door open and the voices announced they were home.  Ryan was the first to come to the door and knock,

“It’s open.”

Ryan came in,

“What happened?”  

“She was fine one minute and she went to take a shower, next thing I know, I hear her scream and I ran to the bathroom.  She must have had a flashback and and was cutting herself, I stitched her leg up and bandaged the others up.  She wouldn’t let me leave and pulled me here and this is where we ended up.”

“Did she say anything?”

“No, Ryan I’m sorry.”

“You did what you could Trev.  Thank you for looking after her.”  He told the younger man as he sat on the edge of the bed.  “I can take over if you want.”

“Yeah, I don’t think she’ll let me up.”  Trevor admitted, “I’ll stay with her for a while, you go finish up with the Lads.”  

Ryan nodded and reluctantly stood and closed the door behind him.  He ran his hand through his hair, he would talk to Jack later about finding someone Kristy could talk to.  He was kicking himself for leaving her, sure Trevor had been there but what if she had hurt him?  It wasn’t that he was a bad kid but he still didn’t like the fact she had latched to Trevor so quickly.

“How is she?”  Jeremy asked,

“She’s pretty shook up but Trevor’s with her now.  He took pretty good care of her earlier.”

“He’s a good guy.” Gavin told him.  Ryan nodded, 

“What’s wrong Ry?”

“She’s not okay.  I don’t know what to do, she’s getting worse.”

“Ryan, this isn’t something she’ll get over immediately.  She has to work this out on her own, we can’t do it for her.”

“I can’t just sit around and watch her do this to herself Michael.  How can you watch her hurt like this.”

The lad stuffed his hands in his pockets and shuffled uncomfortably.

“If we had the answer we would have already tried it.  Kristy is part of our family too Ryan, we hate watching her like this.  We want to help as much as possible but all we can do is be here for her.”  Michael told him.  

“Michael’s right Ryan, we be here for her and maybe when this whole Edgar situation is finished she’ll learn to live with it.”  Gavin added in.  Ryan nodded, 

“Come on let’s go put these away.” Jeremy gestured to the crates of weapons they had just brought in.  Michael and Gavin the shorter lad move them to the Armory, Ryan checked his phone for any word from Jack.  She hadn’t answered him yet and he paced the penthouse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kristy stirred when Trevor adjusted positions,

“Trev,” she whimpered

“It’s alright, I didn’t go anywhere.”  He smoothed her hair and she pulled closer to him now that he was on his side facing her.  “Ryan was here a few minutes ago, I can go get him. . .”

“No, stay.” She told him.  

“You sure?”

Kristy nodded her head,

“Why?”

“You’re a good cuddler.”  she yawned, Trevor chuckled.

“Well at least I’m good at something.”

“Shut up,”  Her meds were kicking in, she was getting loopy.  “I like you Treco.”

“Thanks, you’re not so bad yourself,”

“No I mean it Trev.”  She curled closer to him.  He felt her relax and sighed, he had to keep his head about this and her.

Ryan would kill him if he knew what might be starting between them.  Trevor pushed away those thoughts and feelings,as her breathing evened out and slowed she fell asleep again.  Trevor closed his eyes and told himself he would just take a short nap.

After he had talked to Jack, Ryan went back to check on Kristy.  He was surprised Trevor was still there, but when he took a closer look he saw they were both asleep.  There was a strange urge for the merc to pull the younger man away from his daughter but yet he couldn’t bring himself to.  It could just be a coincidence that they had both fallen asleep and had happened to shift into their current position. 

Ryan closed the door and left them alone before going to his own room for the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey Geoff, look at this.”  Gavin called to the kingpin, “Looks like our mystery girl got some good info.  I’ve found the safe houses and the contact William mentioned in the video.”

“Good work Gav, I’ll have B-team check it out in the morning.”

“That’s not all, do you recognise this?”  Gavin pointed to the room.

“It looks like an interrogation room, we aren’t the only ones with a few around.”

“But who else has one that looks just like ours?”

“Come on Gav that’s. . . not.  Holy shit.”  Geoff groaned, he recognised the stupid brick pattern that Gavin had insisted on. “Do you know which one it is?”

“No not yet.  I’m cross referencing with old video from all of our rooms, but I’ll need to take a trip up to Chilliad to check that one.  We never switched it over to our system.”

“When was the last time we even went up there?”

“Beats me, but we need to check every place we know.  Then we can start hunting down some leads.”

“Good work Gavvers.  Don’t stay up too late buddy.”  Geoff patted him on the back before heading to his room. 

Gavin sent a few more lines out to his underground contacts before shooting a text to Michael about driving up to Chiliade before he headed to his own bed for the night.


	7. This Road We Walk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow ok I was bad about updating this time. School got a little busy so here is the next chapter, tell me if you still like it!

Kristy woke up shivering and covered in sweat.  Trevor was still asleep next to her when she stood and left her room.  The penthouse was quiet for once as Kristy paced around, she jumped as a door opened.

“Hey what are you doing up?”  Jeremy walked out of his room.  Kristy shrugged,

“Couldn’t sleep.”  

“Nightmares again?”

Kristy nodded, Jeremy hugged her.

“You wanna talk about it?”  She shook her head, “Kris if anyone will understand it’s me.  I was there too.”

“And you're fine!  A few weeks later I can barely function.”

“Come on, we need to talk.”  He lead her to the couch.

“I don't want to, it hurts.”

“I know but trust me it only gets worse the longer you push it down.  It wasn't a smooth transition for me either.”  He pulled her to sit with him, “I have nightmares from every time I've been taken and hurt.  But I know that it's ok to be scared, and no matter what I have you guys to help me up when I fall.”  Jeremy made her look at him.

“You have us, we will never leave you alone.  We want to help but you have to let us in.  We can't keep hoping our demons will just go away, we learn to live with them.  You have to learn to be scarier than the monsters.”

“What if I can't?  What if I can't learn to live with all of this?”

“You can because you have to.”

“How can you say that like it’s no big deal?”  She was crying, Jeremy pulled her in again.  “I just want to go back to normal.”

“This is normal now, I know it's hard to understand but sometimes we have to fall all the way to get back up.  It sucks but eventually it gets better, trust me.”

Jeremy sat with her as she soaked his shirt with tears.  He just held her, knowing she would talk to him when she was ready.  He didn't know how long they sat there before she finally spoke up.

“I've done something really bad J.”

“Look who you're talking too, I promise I'll help.”

“You can't tell the others, please.”

“Kris,”

“Please, they can't know.”  He could see this was tearing her apart so he agreed.

“Fine, just you and me.”  

Kristy took in a shaky breath,

“I've been overdosing on the sleeping pills.”  She hid her face, ashamed.  Jeremy felt his heart break at her words, he only held her tighter.

“Why?”

“It takes away everything.  It's quiet, it's the only way I get any sleep.”

“God, Kris.  I had no idea, I'm sorry.”

“I want it to stop.  I don't want to hurt, I don't want to be scared.”

“What are you scared of?”

“Him, if he’ll come back for us.  I can't do that again.”

“You know that's not all,” Jeremy accused, he hated pushing her but this was the only way.

“I don't know,”

“Kris,”

“I can't J, I can't!”  She struggled away from him.

“You have too.”

“I can't lose everything again!”  She broke down and stopped pushing away from him.  “I can't do it again.”  She was crying against him again.  Damn he felt like shit for doing this but she needed to admit it to herself.  

“Kris, I know that was hard but I'm proud of you.  It takes a lot of courage to admit that, it's not the cure but it's a damn good start.”  She nodded against him, she was exhausted.  He was about to pick her up when Trevor rushed from the hall.

“Dude!  Kristy’s gone. . .”  He stopped when he saw Kristy with Jeremy,  “Oh thank God.  I woke up and she was gone, Ryan would kill me if she disappeared.”

“She's fine, help me get her back to bed.”  He said.  Trevor nodded and picked up the sleeping girl easily as Jeremy followed.  Trevor laid her back down on her bed and seemed hesitant to leave her alone.  

“Go ahead and go, I'll stay.”  Jeremy told him.

“Alright, I guess if you want to. . .”  He looked back to the sleeping girl.  Jeremy saw the concern in Trevor's face, 

“Trev, she isn't ready for anything like that.”

“Ready for what?”  He tried to cover, the shorter just shook his head.

“I know what that look is.  Give her time, maybe it’ll work out but now is not the right time.”

“I know, and I'm willing to wait for it.”  

Jeremy gave him a small smile before turning for the door.  Trevor nodded his thanks and watched him leave before reclaiming his earlier spot.  He hadn't realized how hard he had fell before Jeremy had said something. 

What was wrong with him?  Sure they had talked before the whole Edgar thing and yeah she had been funny and personable but he hadn't realized what he had felt until she was gone.  Then suddenly she was back and seeing her scared and hurt had made something switch inside him.

He pushed those thoughts away and settled with her next to him and looked at her one more time before closing his eyes. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gavin as usual was the first up in the penthouse and was gathering gear to check out their Chiliad safe house when Michael came into the kitchen yawning and reaching for the coffee pot.  

“Remind me again why we’re up at the ass crack of dawn?” He mumbled.

“I need to check out Chiliad but Geoff didn’t want me going alone in case we’re walking into a trap.  Besides I need to back for a meeting with Trevor and Lindsey at Noon.”

“Fine, let’s go and get it done then.”  Both Lads walked out the door and climbed into Michael’s truck to head up to the mountain.  It was an hour drive up and seemed to take even longer with the two track roads they had to take to get to the bunker.  

They hopped out, Michael had his gun out and ready just in case.  Gavin keyed in the code on the door and jumped back in case of any booby traps.  When the door swung open quietly the cautiously made their way in.  

“No one’s here.  No extra cameras ether.”  Michael told him as the Brit as he unpacked the tech he had brought to update the bunker.  

“It’ll take me a minute to get everything set up and connected, better make sure outside is clear.”

Michael only nodded and left Gavin to his equipment.  He wandered outside, nothing seemed out of place.  They had cut back most of the trees and brush from the outside but everything was growing back.  He made a mental note to mention to Geoff that it needed to be cut back again when they got back to the city.  

Not finding anything suspicious, Michael turned back towards the bunker.  Gavin was finishing setting up the new computer and was hooking into the system when Michael walked in.

“Quiet?”

“There isn’t anything we should be too concerned about.  Just some brush to cut back again.”  

Gavin nodded and turned back to his tech.  He frowned and reread the lines of code in front of him.  

“I think someone was in here Michael.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I’m missing three hours of security footage.  The code is wiped out, someone had to delete it.”

“Is it our interrogator?”

“Probably, we should check around more.  They probably disposed of the remains around here.”

Both Lads pulled their pistols and carefully scanned the area around the bunker.  Michael was about done looking for nothing when he heard Gavin start gagging.  He jogged over to the brit and found the cause.  The smell hit him like a wall as he got closer, he pulled up his shirt to cover his nose.

Half a corpse laid on the ground, torn and covered in flies.  Michael kneeled down to examine the tracks surrounding the body.

“Wolves, but something tells me this dude’s been here for a while.”

“Wolves don’t just attack people do they?”

“Not usually. . .wait here’s something.”  Michael pointed to a gaping hole in the center of the guy’s head.  

“So not an accident,”

“No, it's probably that guy you were stalking.”

“Ugg, well we found where our mystery girl was.”

Michael nodded and stood up, they walked away as he pulled out his phone to call Geoff.  Gavin finished installing his gear as Michael walked back to him.

“Do you have stuff to set up a camera and a security trip?”

“Uhh maybe, why?”

“Geoff wants to see if we can catch our girl unmasked.  See if we can get any more info on her.”

“I can try, I can rig up a temporary for now.  It’s gonna take me a while longer though.”

“Ok, you hear all that Geoff? . . . Ok I’ll let you know when we’re on our way back.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kristy woke up back in her bed and blinked slowly, she tried to go back to sleep but there was a knock on her door.  

“It’s open.”  she groaned from her spot.  Jack came in and sat down on her bed, she smoothed the auburn hair.

“How ya feelin’?”

“Like shit.”   

Jack smiled and urged her up from the covers.  

“Come on, you need some food and I want to check your bandages.”

“Oh yeah,”  Kristy rubbed the sleep from her eyes, “that happened.”  she pushed off her covers and gingerly moved her legs to the side of the bed.  She tested her legs as she stood and was confident she could walk to the kitchen without too many problems.  

To her surprise there seemed to be no one else in the penthouse and she got the feeling that Jack had sent them all out so they could talk without worrying about who was listening.  As soon as the older red head set the plate down Kristy knew her hunch was true and groaned.  

“Guess you figured out my master plan then?”

“Jack seriously, I don’t want to talk.  I just want to forget everything and move on with my life.  Why can’t any of you understand that?”

“Because that's not how this works and you know it.  You need to learn to deal with this so it goes away instead of hiding and wishing it will!”  Jack shouted.  This girl was pushing her limits and Jack was done with it.  Nothing else had worked and now it was time to push.

“You need to just let me deal with my problems!  I don’t need someone always hovering and fretting over any little thing that happens.”

“That's what you’re going to call what happened yesterday a ‘little thing’?  Kristy that is a big problem and it will only get worse.”

“How do you know?  How could you possibly know what’s best for me every minute?  News flash you can’t!  You aren’t my mother you can’t just order me around like a pawn!”  Kristy stormed back to her room and locked the door.  Jack followed,

“You know what? You right I’m not your mother, my daughter wouldn’t act like such a brat when everyone was trying to help her.”  

The last part struck Kristy like a punch to the gut.  God what was she doing?  Her head told her one thing and her mouth said the opposite.  Why was she doing this?  

_ ‘Because they don’t understand.’ _  A voice told her.   _ ‘They don’t know the solution, but you do.  You’ve always known.’ _

Edgar dead was how she would get over this.  She knew all the tricks to track someone down and now she would put them to use.  The crew wouldn’t understand and she would have to do this alone, she needed to do this alone.  

Decision made, Kristy packed what she would need and grabbed her gear she had carefully hidden after its last use.  No use leaving them a note, they would just track her down eventually.  But not until she was ready.

She snuck out the window and climbed carefully down to the ground.  No way she could take one of her vehicles, it would be easier to find her.  This point on she was on her own, she had some money saved up in a secret account that the crew couldn’t know about.  She knew how to make money on the streets for those who wanted a good merc.  

_ ‘You are fine, you know who can fix your problems.’ _  She jacked a car from a nearby parking lot and drove away from the penthouse.  She knew of one place they wouldn’t think to look for her.  

Kristy drove to the outskirts of Los Santos and found the house she was looking for. She drove past it and parked the car in an old parking lot. Walking back to the house she kept her hood up and face down to keep anyone from noticing. She stopped at the door and wondered if she was doing the right thing, she hadn’t meant what she had said. Jack was just trying to help, but what what would she want with someone who just kept pushing them away.

She made her decision and knocked on the door. Someone called from inside and Kristy heard them walk to the door. The knob turned and she brought her hood down as the door opened.


	8. Where Do We Go From Here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, this chapter is a little longer to hopefully make up for the time it took to get it posted. Enjoy

“What are you doing here?” Meg was surprised to see Kristy at her door.

“I needed to get away for a while, please you can’t tell the Fakes I’m here.”

“Come on,” The purple haired woman lead her inside and to the couch. “Tell me what’s going on.”

Kristy told Meg about the fights and the flashbacks, she listened patiently as Kristy also told her about William.

“I couldn’t stop myself, it felt so good. I wanted him dead so badly and the crew wouldn’t have understood so I disguised myself and tortured information from him. Then I killed him like he deserved.”

“So they have no idea it was you?”

Kristy shook her head.

“As far as I know. They haven’t said anything if they do, but it doesn’t matter much now.”

“You’re welcome to stay here for as long as you need on one condition.” Meg told her, “eventually you need to talk to them about this. It doesn’t have to be today or next week but it will happen even if I have to drag you to them.”

“Thanks, I knew you would understand.”

“Of course, if you need anything let me know ok? Even if it’s to go burn off some energy.”

“I will.”

“You wanna go have some fun?” Meg asked the girl as she jumped up from the couch.

“What kind of fun? That could mean anything with you.”

“Some shopping fun, but we need to make sure no one can recognize you.”

“What did you have in mind?” Meg only grinned and dragged the girl to the bathroom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Fuck, what did I do?” Jack paced her room. “I didn’t mean any of it I just wanted you to listen to me.” 

“Jack?” Geoff opened their door. He saw Jack pacing and came up behind her to wrap his arms around her. She turned to face him,

“I fucked up,”

“That’s not possible if that happens the world will end.”

“No Geoff, I really messed up this time.”

“Hey, whatever it is we can fix it. You have to tell me what happened though.” Geoff wiped away the tears forming on her cheeks. 

“I tried to talk to Kris today to figure out what happened yesterday and we fought.”

“I couldn’t have been that bad,”

“She said I wasn’t her mother and then I yelled that any daughter of mine wouldn’t be a brat and push us away and that was the last I heard from her.”

“Jack you didn’t mean any of that, I know you didn’t. Kristy probably didn’t mean anything she said either.”

“I tried to apologize but she wouldn’t say anything. She locked her door and won’t come out. I pushed her farther away from us.”

“Stop right there. Listen to me,” He waited for her to look up. “It’s not your fault. You both are dealing with a lot, we’re all stressed out right now. Some scuffles are bound to happen now and then. Kristy will come around and is going to feel as bad as you do, everything will work out just like it always does.”

Jack nodded and leaned against him.

“She’ll be fine in a day or so, she just needs to cool off.”

There was a knock on their door,

“What?” Geoff whined. Michael opened the door,

“Just a heads up Ryan is in a bad mood because Kristy won’t answer him. Did something happen?”

“We had a fight earlier, it was my fault.”

“Oh, so she locked herself away?”

“She hasn’t come out since she slammed the door in my face.”

“I’m sure she’s fine Jack. It’s Ryan she gets the moodiness from.” he shrugged and closed the door as he left. 

“God I hope he’s right.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ryan give it a rest.” Gavin said as he walked past Ryan on the phone outside Kristy’s door.

“She has to answer me sometime.” He growled as he got voicemail again. 

“I can hear your phone in there, If you don’t answer me I will break this door down.”

“Ryan let the poor girl be,” Gavin told him before getting a look that could kill from the Merc. “Or keep pestering her, your call.” he held his hands up and backed away before he got punched or worse.

“Kris please talk to me, I want to help. I can’t do that if I don’t know what’s wrong.” he sat next to her door. “I’ll stay here all night if that’s what it takes.” 

Jeremy watched as the older gent waited for hours by the door. Suddenly Ryan growled and jumped up. He took a few steps back and rammed the door down.

“Holy shit Ryan calm down,” Jeremy yelled and rushed to the door opening. He found Ryan just standing there. Kristy was nowhere to be found and there was no note, just some clothes that were thrown around.

“She’s not even here.” Michael had joined them. Ryan ran to the garage and Jeremy followed close on his heels. They took separate bikes and raced from the garage as they put in ear pieces. 

“She can’t be far.”

“Ry we have no idea how long she’s been gone.”

“That doesn’t matter, she has to be in this city somewhere.”

“Maybe Gav can find us a few leads.” 

Ryan nodded and sped ahead while Jeremy called Gavin.

“I’ll see what I can find on the cams.”

“Let us know what you find.” 

Gavin assured him he would and Jeremy followed after Ryan. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jack sat in the living room crying as Gavin raced to his office and computers. Michael was waiting on standby and calling B-team to let them know and to have them start searching. Geoff tried to console Jack to no avail. Trevor was there in minutes,

“What happened?”

“No clue, she’s just gone. Ryan and Jeremy raced out earlier and Gavin is doing what he can to find something on the cameras.”

“Damn, she was fine before I left.”

“It’s my fault,” Jack spoke up from her tearful state. “I pushed too far and she ran away because of me. I did this.”

“Jack this isn’t your fault,” Michael told her.

“She’ll come back, someone will find her or she’ll make it back on her own.” 

“What if she doesn’t Geoff? What if she’s gone for good? I couldn’t do that to us, to Ryan.”

Trevor had gotten the call and almost dropped the phone from shock. His mind had raced the entire way to the penthouse if she had been taken again the crew would have torn the city apart to find her. If she had run away then at least she was probably safe somewhere. He assured Geoff that he wouldn’t stop looking, but it wasn’t just orders he was following this time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Meg had finally let her look in the mirror, Kristy barely recognized herself. Her auburn hair was dyed a dirty blond and Meg had contoured and changed her face with makeup. A selection from the spy’s massive wardrobe and Kristy was someone else entirely.

“Ok, so now that you don’t look like Kristy we can do some shopping.”

“You still make me nervous when you say that.”

“Oh don’t be a baby we’ll be paying this time.” Meg told her as they headed out to her purple Jester. As she drove them to the mall and revealed her intentions.

“So now that you’re a big bad merc you gotta look like you mean business. So we need to figure out your style, and you’ll need a name.”

“This was your plan?”

“Pretty much, if you don’t want to that's fine. . .”

  
“No, that sounds fun. Maybe that's what I need right now.” 

Meg grinned and pulled into a parking spot. She lead Kristy through multiple stores as they experimented and played with a few ideas. Kristy was giving up when she spotted a leather jacket that faded from red to black. 

“What about this?” she pulled it out for Meg to see. 

“That’s badass. Now we have a direction to go from, oh these would go well.” Meg found a pair of tall black combat boots with gold chains and buckles. Kristy was sold on the idea and soon the walked out of the mall with bags from a few stores. 

“Now, you probably want some way to hide your face. That means a mask or face paint.”

“A mask hides better, and face paint is an extra precaution.”

“You sound just like Ryan. No doubt you’re related.” Meg laughed and drove them to the mask shop by the beach. They browsed a few when Meg pulled out a growling lion,

“Wait what’s that one?” Kristy put down the white skull she had been looking at. She grabbed the half mask from Meg and turned it. It was a lion skull with elongated teeth with feathers and ribbons that spilled down the back. Kristy held it up to her face and cocked her head at Meg.

“That is terrifying actually. What d’ya think?”

Kristy nodded it was a comfortable mask to wear and left her lower face free to move if she talked. She pulled it off and Meg grinned as she paid for it. 

“I guess we found your staple, but seriously do skulls run in your family?”

“Like father like daughter, I guess.”

“Come on let’s give this a test run.” 

Meg let her change and helped Kristy apply gold and black face paint to resemble a lion and as Kristy put the mask on she felt good. She grinned and snuck out of the spare room and crept up behind Meg on the couch. She placed the nose of the mask beside her and waited until she heard Meg scream.

“Holy shit don’t do that.” She grabbed at her chest. “God that is scary, the gold on your eyes really stands out from that thing.”

Kristy grinned and stood up straight for Meg to see her handiwork. 

“I would not want to see you in a dark alley that’s for sure.”

“And you’re sure no one will recognize me?”

“Absolutely, now you need a name to go with all of this.”

“I did some research about lions and their symbolism and I found Sekhmet and Maahes.”

“Egyptian?”

Kristy nodded,

“Gods of war and vengeance.”

“Both are good which one do you prefer?”

“I like both, what one do you like?”

“Hmm. . .”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jeremy all but dragged Ryan back to the penthouse, letting the older man lean on him. Jeremy struggled him back to the couch and unceremoniously dumped a passed out Ryan. Jeremy collapsed onto one of the other chairs exhausted, he peeled off his gloves and shoes.

They had been out all week looking for Kristy, every inch of the city had been scoured twice with no sign of her. Ryan hadn’t slept since she had disappeared and Jack had convinced Jeremy to slip a sleeping pill into his diet coke before their last run. He had convinced Ryan to let him drive one of the cars and he had been out for about an hour. 

Gavin had checked with every contact and there was no word of Kristy anywhere. The b-team was still searching and trying to dig up any information that could turn into a lead. Jeremy was worried that Trevor would work himself to the bone, he too had been desperately checking with anyone in RoosterTeeth. 

Michael and Geoff trudged in a few minutes after and the looks on their faces said it for them.

“She’s vanished. There is no trace of her anywhere.” Geoff grunted.

“Where else do we look? The city isn’t that big and she knows how to cover her tracks.” Michael told him. She had been taught by some of the best in the business and now it was coming to bite them in the ass. He huffed and went to check on Gavin who was now living at his desk watching cameras all over the city.

“Please tell me you found something.” Jack wandered out from where she had been hiding the past few days. She had been avoiding everyone but Geoff and was convinced she was to blame.

“Nothing, we’re running out of places to look.”

“Fuck, I really messed up.”

“Jack, you know it wasn’t just you. This is on all of us don’t take all the blame.” Geoff hugged her. She only nodded and let him lead her back to their room. Jeremy ran his hand over his face and stood to stretch before heading to his room to get what little sleep he could. As soon as he hit the mattress he was out cold.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Dude, this is disgusting.” Michael jarred Gavin from his watch. He scanned over the empty takeout boxes and energy drinks that Gavin had been surviving off of.

“I’ll clean later,” he yawned in response and stretched his arms. “Don’t want to miss something.”

“Gavin you’re going to kill yourself if you don’t stop.”

“I’ve done worse boi.”

“Yeah don’t remind me. I’d rather not repeat those experiences.” Michael leaned against the desk. “You need a shower and to sleep.”

“I can’t Michael. I’m so close I know it, and now there’s some new mercenary trying to make a name for themselves.” Gavin whined, still not taking his eyes off the screens in front of him.

“I’m sure it can wait.”

“They have to be connected, she appeared after Kris disappeared. That can’t be a coincidence.”

“Probably not, but you aren’t any help if you go mad from watching those screens.”

“I have to know Michael, that’s my job. I need to know who this Sekhmet person is.”

“It needs to wait Gav, it will still be there tomorrow.”

“I can’t just take breaks willy-nilly. . .”

“Yes you can, because you need to. B-team is watching the same feeds you are, it will be fine for a few hours.”

“But Michael. . .”

“No but’s. Get your ass into bed and go the fuck to sleep.” Michael emphasized his point by pulling Gavin away from his screens and towards the door.

“Fine, I'm going. Just for a few hours.” Gavin yawned again as he headed for his room. Michael shook his head and left to get some sleep for himself. He quietly opened his door and closed it before shucking off his clothes and pulling on some sweatpants before crawling under the covers next to Lindsay. She rolled over to face him.

“Go back to sleep babe.” Michael kissed her head.

“No luck?”

“No, if she want’s to stay hidden then we have no chance in hell of finding her. But we’ll keep looking.”

“How’s Rye?”

“Last I saw him he was passed out on the couch.”

Lindsay nodded and cuddled closer and Michael let sleep overtake him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meg watched as Kristy worked her magic on a rival crew leader who Meg had caught running a human trafficking ring. Sure she was used to blood and gore but what this girl did would give her nightmares. Kristy had finally had her fill ended the man’s life with a blank look in her eyes that reminded Meg of the times she had tagged along with the Vagabond.

Kristy walked back over and wiped her blade off on a clean rag. She didn’t look back at the dead man who sat with chunks of skin missing in a pattern on his chest. Pulling one of the knives he’d had on him Kristy left her note and stuck it to the wall as a warning.

She didn’t feel bad, what he had coordinated was atrocious and no living thing deserved to be treated like those men and women had been. Meg had already called Miles to leave an anonymous tip to the LSPD about the location and the people still there. 

“Come on, before anyone shows up.” Meg let Kristy lead the way back to the car.

“Now, your turn to hold up your end.”

“Really Meg? It’s only been a week.”

“No way, you said you would meet up and now you need to follow through.”

“I still get to pick?”

“Yes, and you better decide before I do it for you.”

Kristy groaned and muttered to herself. Meg let her have some time to think it over. If she was going to convince her to go back them it had to be on Kristy’s terms. She wasn’t going to let her disappear again. Meg pulled into her driveway and cut the engine.

“Trevor.” Was all Kristy said before heading to the guest bedroom where she had been staying. Meg sighed, she was going to have to call Gavin and see what he could set up. She sent him a quick text and showered before heading to her own room for the night.

She had been hoping it would have been Ryan but that obviously wasn’t happening. Meg wondered why Kristy had picked Trevor over one of the main crew. He was less likely to drag her back then the guys but he would probably tell Geoff where she was. 

It was a battle better left for tomorrow and Meg called it a day and crawled into her bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kristy pulled off her mask off once she was safely in her room. Meg’s terms for letting her out were that she had to slowly re engage with the crew. She turned the mask over and it stared at her. 

“They won’t understand. How could they? I don’t know what I’m doing anymore.” She told the empty eyes. She sighed and placed it carefully on the dresser and stripped off her jacket and bloody clothes. Her face paint came off easily and she wondered why she had picked Trevor as her first contact. 

Maybe he would understand where her head was and not tell the others just yet. She needed to figure out a lot of things before she went back. She had destroyed them because she wasn’t strong enough, and that couldn’t happen again. 

Meg had helped her a lot, she felt at ease and not in a constant state of panic. Maybe that was why she had picked Trevor. He was comfortable to be around, he had saved her from bleeding out. She had pulled the stitches days ago but the one on her left thigh would definitely scar over. Thinking back she didn’t feel scared, she didn’t know how to describe it but she missed him. She missed all of the crew but he was the strongest pull for her to go back.

“What would he want with me?” She asked the mask again. It only continued to stare ahead at the wall. She fell asleep and didn’t stir until she heard Meg knock on the door and stood to answer it. 

“Sorry about earlier.”

“Hey, it’ll get better. Anyway, I got Geoff to give me Treyco for a few hours today.”

“Thanks, for everything Meg.”

“What are friends for? Besides, I know what it’s like to want to get away for awhile.” she shrugged and smiled. She told her to get ready and left to get herself primped for the day. Kristy was nervous she hadn’t been expecting to meet up so soon. 

She quickly found a new set of clothes and laced up the boots and pulled on the jacket. She contemplated the mask before deciding to take it in case Meg had set her up. Once she was geared up she found Meg waiting in the living room. She didn’t say anything as she grabbed her keys and Kristy was thankful. She just wanted to figure out what she was going to say to Trevor.

Meg took her to a familiar meeting point of the Fakes, it looked like they were the first ones there. Kristy didn’t notice how she had clenched her hands and was digging her nails into her palms until Meg reached over and squeezed her hand reassuringly. 

Kristy let out a breath she had been holding and followed Meg out of the car and into the warehouse. They walked in and Kristy scanned the room, she already had a plan in case this whole thing went South. 

The sound of a car door closing alerted her and she whipped her head around to the door. She had snuck into the shadows and waited as she saw Trevor walk in. She was almost in the clear when Jeremy followed him in.

“Meg,” the shorter lad greeted her. He even tipped his Stenson to her.

“Hey guys.” She emphasized the s’.

“Sorry Geoff’s orders. With everything he doesn’t want anyone out alone.”

“That might be a problem. Meg glanced back to where she knew Kristy was hiding.

Kristy tensed and knew Meg would drag her out by her fingernails if she didn’t do it on her own. Taking a deep breath she stepped into the light.

Jeremy immediately reached for his pistol.

“What’s going on Turney?”

“It’s alright, she’s a friend of mine.”

“Got quite the Vagabond vibe you got going there huh?”

“She goes by the name of Sekhmet. Kind of new in town and I thought you might want to meet.”

“Our Golden Boy’s had his eye on her for a while now. We aren’t hiring right now if that’s why she’s here.” Trevor watched her carefully.

“I don’t need a job.” Kristy told them. 

“Then why are you here Skeletor?”

“Because I thought you’d like to know that I’m alive.” She pulled off the mask. 

Jeremy’s jaw dropped and he stood there stunned. Trevor was in the same state but walked towards her carefully.

“Kris?” He kept his voice low as if talking to a wild animal. “Is that really you?”

Kristy nodded and he moved quicker than she expected to hug her. He didn’t say anything, Kris returned the gesture.

“We were so worried. Where have you been?” Jeremy asked as he too came in for a hug.

“I had to leave, you wouldn’t understand.”

“And I couldn’t care less right now. Once you come home everything will work itself out.” Trevor told her. 

“No, I can’t go back. Not yet.”

“Like hell you can’t. Everyone has been searching nonstop. We had to drug Ryan just to get him to stop and Jack’s isolated herself from us. We are falling apart.” Jeremy told her.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for any of that to happen. But I’m not ready to go back.”

“Why? Why did you leave?” Trevor pulled back so he could look at her. 

“Because I need to figure out some things.”

“Then come home and figure it out, we can help.” Jeremy pleaded.

“Jeremy stop. If she isn’t ready, then we can’t force her.”

“You’re taking her side?!”

“Yes because I understand. You know how I was when Geoff pulled me off the streets. I know what it’s like to not know yourself.” 

Kristy looked up at him, she was ready to cry. Someone understood her, she hugged him tighter. 

“Please J’, I just need more time.” She pleaded. He sighed,

“Fine, but at least let us tell the crew you’re alright. I’ll make sure they don’t follow you but that won’t hold them off for long.”

Kristy nodded against Trevor. Meg pulled Jeremy aside,

“Being on her own has helped, but she is her father’s daughter.”

“What has she done.”

Trevor watched Meg pull Jeremy aside and looked back down to Kristy.

“Was it something I did?”

“No, I just panicked and knew I had to leave. If anything you were the thing that brought me back.”

“Look I know what you’re going through isn’t easy but pushing us away makes us feel like we did something wrong.”

“I didn’t mean for it to be like that. Looks like I’m still screwing up.”

“No, you’re not Kris. It’s hard to heal from this but you’ll be fine because you are strong and beautiful and the most stubborn person I know after Ryan.”

“What did you just say?”

“Uhh, you’re stubborn?” Trevor tried to backpedal.

“No, the beautiful part.”

“Shit, I didn’t want you to find out like this. I was going to wait because Jeremy said it would be better. . .” Trevor rambled as his face became a deep shade of red. Kristy smiled and leaned up to kiss his cheek. She hugged him tighter,

“It’s ok Trevor. I like you too.” 

He sighed in relief and relaxed.

“So does that mean you want to try this?”

“Yes, but the crew especially my dad can’t know.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want them too.”

“Oh, I thought maybe they wouldn’t approve of me.”

“Shut up you dork.”


	9. Up in Flames

“You can’t be serious.” Jeremy told Meg after she told him about what she had seen Kristy do.

“I wouldn’t lie about this J. She made Ryan look like an amateur.”

“This complicates things. I can’t take her back without her running off again and if I tell them what she is, I end up on the mean side of Ryan’s knife.”

“Tell them what they want to hear, that she’s safe.”

“Ryan isn’t going to be satisfied with that answer and he’ll hunt her down.”

Meg groaned. With just Trevor, she could have passed this off as a meeting between him and Miles but Jeremy had shot that plan to pieces. 

“Look what you tell them isn’t up to me. I just don’t want you to lose her.”

“You and me both. How did you convince her to even meet up with Trevor?”

“We have a deal, she gets to come out and burn off some energy with me in exchange for reconnecting with you guys.”

“Thanks for looking out for her Meg.”

“What else was I going to do? Throw her out for worse people to get a hold of? No way, I couldn’t do that to Rye.” She turned back to the pair they had left. They both saw the connection between the two.

“How long has that been brewing?” Meg asked Jeremy,

“A few weeks. Mostly after Trev stopped a dangerous flashback.”

“It could be good for her.” 

Jeremy shot her a questioning look.

“To be able to connect with someone. Trevor understands where she’s coming from and maybe he can help her in a way you and the others can’t.”

“I hope you’re right. I just don’t want either of them to get hurt. If something happens to Trevor, she might break entirely.”

“Then don’t let anything happen to that boy.” Meg walked away. Jeremy was still trying to figure out what to tell the crew as he went back to the younger couple.

“Come on Trev, we better get going before they send out search parties.”

“Promise you’ll only tell them that I’m ok?”

“If that’s what you want then yes, I promise.”

“Thank you Jeremy. I know you don’t understand but thank you for trying.”

“Just remember your deal with Meg. A little advice, take Jack next. This has been hard for her.” Jeremy hugged Kristy goodbye.

“I will. Tell her that it wasn’t her fault.”

“You got it kid.” Jeremy let her go and walked to his truck to wait for Trevor.

“So, I guess I’ll see you around?”

“Yeah, I want this to work Trevor. I just need some more time.”

“Take all of it that you need. I’ll be waiting.” He went to kiss her cheek but she moved to catch his lips. He almost pulled away in surprise but let himself melt into the moment.

Kristy’s knees almost buckled as she pulled him closer. She felt a tingling energy, trail from where Trevor was touching her. She panicked until he kissed her back and held her close. He was the one to pull away for breath but he kept his forehead against her’s.

“Forever and a day.” he told her before stealing another kiss. She held his hand and let it slide from her grip as he walked away. He looked back before walking out the door and smiled.

Meg slid next to Kristy,

“So, that’s why you picked Treco.”

“Shut up it wasn't the plan.” Kristy was blushing.

“Sure it wasn’t.” Meg rolled her eyes playfully. “He’s cute.”

“Oh my god can we please talk about something else?” Kristy tried to hide in her jacket.

“Fine, but I get the juicy details later.” Meg laughed and walked back to her car. Kristy followed and avoided eye contact with her the rest of the day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trevor tried to compose himself before Jeremy would notice.

“Took you long enough.” Jeremy was waiting with the engine running.

“Sorry, was just saying goodbye.” Trevor apologized as he climbed in.

“Sure you were.” 

“It’s not like that.”

“Then you’re gonna tell me that you didn’t just kiss Kristy?” Jeremy turned to face the younger.

“Would you believe me if I did?” Trevor asked with fake hope.

“Not a fucking chance Trev.” Jeremy laughed and pulled away. He saw Trevor watching the rearview mirror, “Hey, I didn’t mean it like that.” He became sincere. “Congrats buddy.”

“Thanks.” He had given up on watching the warehouse. Jeremy watched him fidget in the seat.

“What’s wrong? Isn’t this what you wanted?”

“Yeah but, what if I hurt her?”

“Trust me, If you’re asking that question you have nothing to worry about.” 

“So what do we tell the others?”

“We tell them we saw her and that she’s ok. We’ll leave out the part about you two.”

“And how do we appease the super scary Ryan that could destroy us without a second thought?”

“We tell him the truth. That she isn’t ready to come back yet. He needs to let her decide for herself, she’s a big girl.”

Trevor nodded and let his mind wander as they drove back to the penthouse. Jeremy snapped him out of it when he got out and closed his door. Trevor followed him up to the penthouse, he tried to wipe his hand on his jeans to make them less sweaty.

“Everything’s going to be fine.” Jeremy reassured him. The elevator opened and the pair found the penthouse quiet. 

“That you Jer?”

“No, it’s the pizza man. Who else would it be Geoffrey?”

They heard the Gent laugh and found him and Jack in the living room watching a movie.

“What’s up?” Geoff noticed their strange demeanor.

“We need to talk,” Jeremy sat on the armchair while Trevor took the ottoman.

“Did you find something?” Jack asked she perked up at the chance.

“No use beating around the bush.” Trevor glanced back to Jeremy who was mentally preparing. Jeremy was the one to continue.

“We saw her,”

“Where? How is she?”

“She’s fine Jack. But she made us promise not to tell you where she is.”

“Why? What did we do?” Geoff asked,

“She only said that she wasn’t ready to come home, she needs more time to figure out some things.”

“We can help her! She’s as stubborn as Ryan.”

“I offered but she’s determined to do this on her own.” Jeremy told them. 

“And you were afraid that if you dragged her back, she would just run again?” Jack asked them. Jeremy nodded,

“She’s safe where she is?” Geoff added into the discussion.

“Yes.” Trevor answered.

“Did she say why she left?” Jack was wiping away tears. 

“She said she didn’t know who she was. She wanted us to tell you that she doesn’t blame you.”

They all sat in silence for a while. 

“So what are you going to tell the others?” Geoff asked after a minute.

“Exactly what we just told you. But we’re going to need some backup with Ryan.”

“And you have it. If that’s what Kristy wants and she’s safe then she can make that decision for herself.” Jack spoke up. “We may not like it but dragging her back won’t help anything. She’ll just push us farther away if we do.”

“Agreed, I know it’s hard to not know yourself. That’s something she should be able to figure out without us hovering over her.” Geoff stood. “Let's call the others in and just rip the bandage off.” He pulled out his phone and started sending out messages to pull everyone back to base. 

It only took half an hour to gather up the three and Geoff stood in front of them. Ryan was fidgeting with one of his knifes, spinning it between his fingers. Jack glared at him and he huffed as he put it away.

“Alright listen up. We’ve all been stressed these past weeks but hopefully, this will put you at ease. I ask that you just listen to Jeremy and Trevor.”

He gestured over to them and took his place next to Jack. Jeremy cleared his throat,

“We saw Kristy earlier. . .”

“Where? Why isn’t she here now?” Ryan jumped from his seat.

“There’s more Ryan. Sit down, let them finish.” Jack told him, he grunted and sat back down annoyed. 

“She wanted you to know that she’s safe, but she wasn’t ready to come back home.”

“Why?” Michael asked.

“Kristy wants to figure herself out before she comes back.” Trevor told him. Michael nodded,

“Then that’s her decision.”

“No, it’s not!” Ryan shouted.

“What did you want me to do Rye?! Tie her up and carry her back here?!”

“If that's what it took then yes! She needs to be here, with us!”

“She would just run again and you know it.” Jeremy retaliated. Ryan stood and faced him down.

“Back down Ryan.” Geoff called out. He put himself between the mercenary and the driver.

“How can you all just let her go?!”

“We aren’t.” Michael told him. “If that's what she wants then she has the right to have it.”

“You should know better than any of us what it’s like to not recognize the voice in your head.” Geoff reminded him.

“That's why I can help. I can help her understand.”

“Do you want to drive her away?”

“You know that’s not what I want.”

“Then let her do this.” Geoff put his hand on the other gent’s shoulder. “I know you want to protect her, but you can’t save Kristy from herself.” Ryan sat back down defeated. 

“You’re right, I’ve lost her twice. What kind of father am I?”

“You couldn’t have known before. You can choose this time Ryan,” Jack moved next to  
him, “she’ll come back when she’s ready. Kristy is a big girl who needs to be able to make her own decisions.” 

“Maybe she’s better off without me.”

“Ryan, there is no way she wants to leave forever.” Jeremy pointed out. 

“Understand that this is a part of parenting, learning to let her go.” Geoff added,

“I’ve already missed so much of her life, I just wanted to make it up to her.”

“You will, when you’re both ready.”

Ryan nodded at the sentiment. He excused himself and went to hide in his room for a while. Geoff had Gavin keep tabs on him just in case he decided to go after her. 

Jeremy pulled Trevor aside,

“That went a lot better than I thought it was going to.”

“You sure that we did the right thing?” Trevor hinted at Kristy’s second identity.

“I think so, hopefully Meg can keep her out of known Fake business so we don’t bump into her.” Jeremy saw that look on Trevor’s face. “Some advice, try not to act like a lovesick puppy. The crew would give you a hard time if they knew but they won’t kill you for it.”

“Sorry, I just, well you know.”

“Yeah, dude I know.” Jeremy laughed. Trevor’s phone rang, he answered and held the phone away from his ear as Matt started chewing him out for being late for a meeting with the other B-team members.

“Duty calls.” He told Jeremy before making his way to his floor and apologizing to Matt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kristy’s laptop sounded that it had gotten a report and she quickly opened it to check. Thanks to the little bug she had planted in Gavin’s system she got any hits the crew did on Edgar. This time she knew they would move quickly to try and get ahead of her. She grabbed her gear as she looked through the file. It wasn’t Edgar but she would settle for one of his hideouts.

It wasn’t hard to sneak away from Meg and she headed a few blocks away to grab one of her new bikes she had stashed after her last payout. She had done the custom black with red paw prints and had done some other modifications Jeremy would have been proud of. The engine roared to life as she pulled on her helmet and took off.

She found the house quickly and made sure her bike was hidden before changing into her mask. She hadn’t had time for anything extravagant with the face paint so she had recreated Ryan’s skull look with gold and black. 

Checking her semi-auto Sekhmet made sure everything was in place before pulling out a Mogar special and throwing it at the door. She turned away from the blast as it rocked the house and left the door in splinters. The first of the panic had set in and she grinned beneath the mask. As a few came outside she mowed them down with the rifle. 

In seconds she was inside and tracking her way through the safe house killing anything that moved. Everything was going smoothly until an engine rumbled outside. 

Sekhmet swore and took cover in a back room that she could defend herself in. They were loud as they tracked her path and made their own sweep of the rooms. A few more gunshots sounded and she heard them move closer to her position. She growled and took out her knife and waited until she heard one at the door. 

“Just cover me dumbass...HOLY SHIT!” They yelled at the knife buried itself inches from their head. Shots flew and Sekhmet took out her pistols to return fire. She hit the shoulder of the one in the doorway and thought she grazed the next one coming in behind the first. She pulled her hunting blade and jumped from her hiding spot towards them. 

They traded a few blows before she got the upper hand and held one with a knife at his throat in front of her. He whimpered as she pushed the blade harder against his skin.

“Hold your fire.” One called out. The one she had hit in the shoulder tried for his gun and Sekhmet stopped him with a boot in his wound. He cried out as she put more weight on the injury to make her point. 

“What do you want?”

Sekhmet just stared the remaining members down and gestured to the door with her head. They seemed to understand her and set their weapons down she let the one under her foot go and he crawled to the others. 

She kept the one in her hands in front of her as she backed towards the door, she was about to let him go when bullets grazed her leg and side. She growled again and dropped her hostage as she ran out the door and ran into another attacker. 

He tackled her and pinned her down with his weight. She roared and tried to claw at the face before realizing there was a mask that protected it. He tried to wrestle her arms down but received a knee to the groin and doubled over. 

Sekhmet managed to squirm away and was on her feet again before electricity poured through her. She screamed and fought to get away from the iron grip that held the taser to her. She landed a solid punch to the head and was almost free when a second burst tore through her and she collapsed. 

She fought to stay awake and the last thing she saw was the mask kneeling over her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gavin had gotten the confirmation on the safe house and it didn’t take much to stir the crew into action. In minutes, most of them had piled into cars and sped towards their destination.

“We go in, and we do what damage we can. These bastards have declared war, no mercy boys and girl.” Geoff called over the coms. The two lads whooped and hollered, and the other gents just grinned and prepped. This was what they were known for, mass destruction and devastation. 

The house was already thrown into chaos when the Fake’s arrived.

“What the hell happened here?” Michael asked,

“It could be our mystery merc.” Gavin stated.

“Let’s find out. Watch yourselves in here, we don’t know if anyone is still inside.” Geoff entered his full leader mode and the others fell into their places. They made sure to clear every room and stumbled on a few unfortunate bastards that were still alive. Michael was about to check the last room when Gavin started babbling.

“Just cover me dumbass...HOLY SHIT!” He yelled as a knife narrowly missed his head and a bullet buried itself into his shoulder. He hit the ground to let Gavin through and watched as another bullet grazed by the brit. A flash of dark color leaped over the table and was instantly on Gavin. Michael tried to crawl for his pistol but cried out as a boot dug into his injured shoulder.

“Hold your fire.” Geoff called out to the others. He was trying to piece together what had just happened. A stranger in a creepy as fuck skull mask had two of his crew held hostage. 

“What do you want?” He asked, not letting his gun drop. The mask nodded towards the door, they wanted to leave. Geoff put down his weapon and saw Jack do the same out of the corner of his eye. Michael was let go and he half crawled over to them as the mask pulled Gavin towards the door. 

She started to loosen her grip when Geoff saw Ryan outside, he let out a few shots that hit the attacker and they threw Gavin away before being fully tacked by the Vagabond. Jack herded Gavin back to Michael so she could check them over as Geoff watched the two skulls grapple on the grass outside.

He saw Ryan double over and started to charge when the larger Gent again got hold of the attacker and they screamed. Geoff ran to them and caught a fist with his nose before making contact with his own taser.

They crumpled and the Vagabond let them down onto the ground. 

“You alright man?” Geoff asked. The black skull mask looked up and nodded at him. Geoff sighed and left him with their prisoner to go check on Jack and the Lads. 

She assured him they would be fine and that they had already started to heal up. 

“What just happened?” Jack asked,

“Rye got her and we brought her down with the tasers.”

“And I thought Ryan’s mask was bad. That thing takes the fucking cake.” Michael stated as the Vagabond walked past with his prey thrown over his shoulder. They checked for any info that might have been left behind and finding nothing Geoff told Michael to torch the place.

“With pleasure.” Was all the arsonist said before digging around for some supplies in his trunk. Ryan had thrown their hostage into the other trunk and was double checking the bonds. 

“Well let’s see who’s been causing us all this grief.” Geoff reached for the mask when his hand was stopped.

“No.” Was all Ryan said as he closed the trunk and walked away. 

“What’s his problem?” Gavin asked.

“Who knows, maybe he wants to wait and use it later. Let’s get back before our guest wakes up.”


	10. A Dangerous Game

Kristy woke at being jostled hard. Looking around all she saw was inky blackness and felt a zip tie around her wrists. She quickly started to saw at it with a sharp spike on her boot and tried to figure out where she was headed. Obviously, she was in the trunk of a car and they were headed somewhere fast. The zip tie broke easily and she grasped around for any sort of release on the inside.

She found the lock but it had a cover over it and she felt around for anything she could use to pry it off. An old crowbar did the trick and she waited for the driver to slow down before jumping out. She felt them slow and saw her chance, she quickly popped the hatch and jumped out hoping they wouldn’t notice she was gone.

She hit the pavement hard and rolled to the side of the road. Luckily there were some bushes she could take cover in, she caught a glimpse of the car she had been in and her heart sunk. Her secret had almost been revealed because she had just gone on autopilot at the safe house.

When she was sure they were gone she made a break for it. She was way too far from Meg’s and there was no way she could explain herself. She tried to think of anything or anyone she could call. The only other person she knew she could trust was kind of risky to call but it was her only shot.

The crew had taken her weapons, if they put two and two together she was done for. She pulled off the mask and did found a hose to wash her face. Now that she didn’t look so incriminating she wandered the street and managed to pickpocket a phone from some drunk fuck-boy. She dialed the number and hoped he would pick up.

“Hello?” the voice answered.

“Trevor it’s me.”

“Hold on let me get to my office...Yes, I’m looking at the paperwork right now.”

“What the hell Trev?” Kristy asked, she heard a door close and lock.

“Sorry, I was trying to be inconspicuous. What’s wrong?”

“I almost blew my cover, and I need somewhere to stay tonight.”

“What’s wrong with Meg’s?”

“She didn’t know I left. I just need to spend the night somewhere.”

“Where are you now?”

“Behind the bar on 15th street.”

“Just stay there, I’ll come get you.”

“Ok,”

“Hey it’s gonna be alright, give me fifteen minutes.”

“I’ll be inside until you get here.”

“Just hold on I’m on my way. Be careful.” he told her before hanging up.

Kristy ended the call and deleted the call and walked into the bar. She gave the phone to the bartender saying she found it outside. He took it from her and she went to sit at a booth in the back. She kept her head down and an eye on the clock, Trevor would be there any minute.

Her thoughts were rudely interrupted by an intoxicated guy who sat next to her.

“What’s a pretty thing like you doing in this dump.” All of his words slurred together.

“What does it matter to you? Leave me alone.”

“Nah, couldn’t leave a defenseless thing like you alone. Why don’t you come back to my place and we can really party.”

“No thanks, I already told you to get lost.”

“Aww come on sweetheart, what’s one night gonna hurt?” He was getting closer when a familiar voice answered for her.

“She said back off.” Trevor walked up.

“Oh, and what do you care?”

“That’s my girl you’re trying to frisk. I suggest you move along before I make you.” Trevor cracked his knuckles. The guy grunted and stood to leave.

“You ok?” he asked as Kristy stood to hug him. She reached up to kiss him,

“Better thanks to you, I was almost to the point of hitting him.”

“That would have been funny but maybe another time.”

He lead her to his car, his fingers entangled with hers. He opened the door for her and was quiet for the first few minutes of the drive.

“So what happened?”

“I went to take out one of Edgar’s safe houses and the crew showed up. I got my ass handed to me and managed to escape before they got me to the penthouse.”

“You know that I support you being on your own, but maybe it’s time to come clean?”

“I want to but, I can’t.”

“Why? Yeah, they’ll be upset for a while but they understand.”

“You told them?”

“Just enough to satisfy them. But it won’t hold forever.”

“I know, God this is such a mess.”

“Hey, you aren’t ever alone in this, ok? I will always be here when you need me.”

“My knight in shining armor.”

“Well I prefer a dashing starship captain but I’ll take it.”

Kristy laughed, it wasn’t long before Trevor pulled up to a newer apartment building and cut the engine. He lead her up the stairs and made sure to stay between her and the cameras. He opened the door to his apartment and let her in.

It wasn’t anything fancy but it was nice and cozy.

“Sorry about the mess, you kind of caught me off guard.”

“I lived with Gavin and Geoff, trust me this is nothing.”

“Well the bathroom’s down there if you want, I don’t really have clothes here but you can borrow some of mine if you want.”

“Yeah, can I borrow your washer too?”

“Of course, anything you need.”

They stood there a little awkwardly for a minute.

“I’ll uh, grab you some clothes to sleep in if you want to shower.”

“Ok, I’ll just go then.” Kristy turned and headed to the bathroom and try and hid her blushing. What was wrong with her? There was nothing weird about this, other couples did this all the time. Why was she nervous?

She stripped and stepped into the shower quickly before Trevor knocked.

“Hey, I’ll just put these on the sink.”

“Thanks.”

Trevor closed the door after dropping of the pile of clothes. He had tried to find stuff that would fit her. He wasn’t going to deny that he curious what she would look like in his clothes. He quickly tried to push those thoughts from his head before anything else wandered in.

He settled on the couch and turned on his Xbox to play some destiny to take his mind off some things.

Kristy stepped out of the shower and saw where Trevor had placed the spare clothes. She dried off with a towel and slid into the boxers and sweatpants. She rolled them so they weren’t too long and picked up the t-shirt he had left. Putting it on she noticed how much it smelled like Trevor and it was relaxing.

Kristy did her best to dry and brush her hair with an extra comb she found before walking out. She found Trevor playing a game and quickly dropped her clothes into the washer. Trevor turned to look at her when she plopped down on the couch next to him. She didn’t say anything as she curled up next to him.

“Go around on the left to get a better shot in.” she told him.

“Ah, I didn’t even see that spot.” He said as he killed the enemy on the screen. He saved the game and turned on the Netflix.

“Any suggestions?” He asked,

“Just not horror or chick flicks.”

Trevor chuckled and started an episode of Sherlock. Kristy leaned up against him as he moved his arm out of the way and wrapped it around her. They made it through two episodes before Kristy nodded off and Trevor was yawning.

Instead of waking her, he just picked her up and carried her to his bed. He pulled the covers over her and was grabbing some extra pillows and blankets for the couch when she stirred.

“I can sleep on the couch,”

“No, you stay here. I’ll be fine.”

“Well then get your butt over here.”

“What?”

“Just sleep here, we won’t do anything.”

“Ok, if you’re ok with it.” Trevor put the extra blanket away and climbed in next to her. She turned to face him,

“Thank you, for everything.”

“You don’t need to thank me for anything.”

“Just take it stupid.”

“Ok, ok. You’re welcome babe.”

“Oh, so we’re at pet names now?”

“Uh, well I, I just, I mean if you don’t…” Kristy shut him up with a kiss.

“I’m just giving you a hard time. It’s ok, babe.” She giggled, Trevor kissed her back and pulled her closer to him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Pop the trunk.” Geoff told Jack as he got out of the car. Ryan followed him, prepared to take their prisoner to the interrogation room. A growl came from the black mask, Geoff saw what was causing the outburst.

“She’s gone.”

“How is that possible? She was out cold and the trunk doesn’t open from the inside.”

“It’s not meant to,” Michael told them as he came over to inspect the trunk. “The cover that hides the lock is torn off. She could have popped it herself and jumped out.”

“How did we not notice that?”

“I guess we won’t find out about our mystery girl today then. Gav, do you know anything about a merc with a lion mask?”

“There’s been talk all over the underground about a new merc on the loose.”

“Get me anything you can on her. Meeting in the heist room in an hour.” Geoff told the crew. He found Jeremy waiting for him by the elevator.

“Where did you guys go?”

“Gavin got a confirmation on a safe house and we went to hit it before Edgar knew it was compromised.”

“You could have waited for me.”

“Sorry J.”

“Whoa Rye what happened to you?” Jeremy asked as Ryan shuffled past.

“We ran into someone else who had the same idea. Rye took a good shot to the dick, and Michael and Gav have already started to heal up from a couple of bullets.” Geoff explained.

“Who did you run into?”

“Don’t know, we were going to bring her back here but she managed to pop the trunk and escape.”

“You can get out of our trunks?”

“Apparently, Gav was going to put together some info on anyone matching her description. We’re meeting in the heist room in a while to go over it and try and figure out how she knew about the safe house.”

“Coincidence maybe?”

“I don’t know, just try not to be late buddy.” Geoff told him and left to go take care of some things. Jeremy went to follow after Ryan.

“Hey, you okay man?”

“That girl can hit, I’ll give her that.” The older told him. He pulled up his shirt to reveal the patches of fading bruises. The worst one was the shiner across his face.

“Damn Rye, losing your touch?”

“She got the drop on us, it took two tasers to get her subdued.”

“Remind me to not tussle with her in the future.” Jeremy joked and left Ryan to wait for the others in the heist room. Surprisingly they started early and Geoff let Gavin go ahead with the information he had dug up.

“There isn’t much about her yet. She’s still pretty new to the city but she has a reputation for getting a job done quickly and discretely.” Gavin told them, he pulled up a picture that someone had gotten of her at some point. Jeremy felt his heart drop, he knew that mask anywhere.

“She goes by the name of Sekhmet. And she’s as brutal as her name suggests.” Gav switched over to pictures of police evidence of some of her handiwork. The crew all balked a bit at the gore, well except Ryan, he was used to how messy things could get in an interrogation. Gave pulled up a still shot of William and the damage was similar.

“Based on everything I can find, I think she’s the one who sent us the original video and knew where our Chiliade bunker was.”

“How does that explain how she’s managed to beat us to the punch every time we’re about to make a move?” Jack asked.

“I have two theories and you won’t like either of them.” He waited for Geoff to nod for him to continue. “The first is that someone has managed to hack my system and get a feed. How they did I have no idea. The second is that there is a double agent somewhere in the crew.”

The silence in the room was heavy. Jeremy tried to keep a straight face as he processed what was happening.

Kristy was the one who had attacked them, she was somehow learning the same information and at the same time the crew was. He hoped the others didn’t notice his discomfort.

Jeremy needed to get a hold of her, if she kept this act up she could get hurt. He sat barely listening. When Geoff let them go, he tried not to rush for his phone. He hid safely in his room and dialed Meg.

“What’s up J?”

“We’ve got a problem. Where’s Kris?”

“She should be in her room why? What’s going on Jeremy?”

“She may be in danger, just go check on her, please? I need to talk to her.”

“Give me a second,” Jeremy heard her call for the younger girl.

“She isn’t here. I don’t know where she could be.”

“Is any of her stuff missing?”

“Her heist gear is gone. Jeremy, I’m sorry I didn’t think she would run again.”

“It’s not your fault Meg. I think I know what happened but the problem is where she is right now.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Just stay there in case she comes back, I’ll check around for her.”

Meg agreed and hung up. Jeremy dialed another number,

“Come on, pick up.”

The phone just rang and went to voicemail. Jeremy hung up and grabbed his keys, there wasn’t time to waste.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_She was running. Her pistols were out of ammo and they hadn't done anything to stop the monster behind her. No matter where she ran, it followed, never tiring and the burning red eyes followed every move she made. She looked back and saw the crew laid out all around, they were unmoving as she screamed for them to get back up._

_She heard Trevor call out for her and he held out his hand. She raced for him but was thrown out of the way as the monster tore into him. The horns swiped across Trevor’s chest and blood sprayed from the wound. The beast turned away as Kristy ran, she held Trevor as blood ran from the wound and his mouth. He gave one last breath and she sat there, holding his body. The beast wheeled around and faced her._

_She watched as it stamped the ground and charged for her. She couldn’t move as it raced closer and the bloodied horns neared. . ._

Trevor felt Kristy become tense in his arms, she whimpered and cried out. He shook her and tried to reassure her.

“Kris, Kris it’s ok I’m here.”

She went through the nightmare for a few more minutes before calming back down and her breathing evened out once again. Trevor sighed, he wished he could do something to help her, but there was nothing he could do inside her head. He was about to drift off again when he heard someone pounding on his door. Groaning, he stood and trudged to the door. He made sure to grab a knife before unlocking it and opening it.

“Jeremy? It’s like three in the morning. What are you doing here?”

“Kris is in danger and we need to find her right now.”

“What?”

“The crew almost got her. Well Sekhmet, but they aren’t far from starting a manhunt for her. Get a shirt on and let’s go.”

“Jeremy hold on. . .”

“No time. . .”

“Jeremy it’s alright. Kristy is here.”

“Wait, what?” Jeremy stood there stunned.

Trevor pulled him inside and made him sit down.

“Kristy is staying the night here. She’s in my room right now fast asleep.”

Jeremy eyes him suspiciously,

“She’s in your room right now, where I assume you just came from?”

“No it’s not like that, nothing happened. She called me and needed a place to crash. I promise we didn’t do anything.”

“Trevor this isn’t a game.”

“I know Jeremy. And I’m not treating it like one.”

“What’s going on in here?” Kristy walked out to find them arguing.

“Kris we need to talk. You are in a lot of danger.”

“Look it was an accident but I’m fine. See?” She gestured to her already healing wounds.

“That’s not the point. The crew is worried that Sekhmet seems to be getting the same info we are. They are prepared to start a full-on manhunt for you, you need to stop.”

“I’m the only reason the crew is getting any information. This is my fight and I will handle it.”

“By hiding behind your boyfriend? Trevor can’t hide you forever, not to mention that Meg is panicking that you left.”

“Then tell her I’m alright. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Kris the crew is looking for you, if you make a move they can pinpoint you. Don’t make them go through figuring out it’s you. I tried to be supportive but this has gone too far, come back and leave that mask behind.”

“No, Jeremy I won’t back off when I’m this close to getting Edgar. I needed Gavin’s connections and the crew won’t catch me again. It was a one-time thing, that's why I ran.”

“Fine don’t take my advice, it’s only going to get worse.” Jeremy huffed and left. Trevor had sat quietly as they had argued.

“You alright?” He asked as he stepped behind her and wrapped her in his arms. He kissed her cheek, she sighed.

“Yeah, I know that this is a dangerous spot to be in, but I need to do this.”

“He’s not wrong.”

“I know, but if I go back now then what do I have to show for it? That I’m just as crazy as my dad?”

“No, but there comes a point where you have to stop running and face these things head on.”

Kristy said nothing, Trevor kissed her again. Kristy turned to face him and returned the kiss. He moved his hands to her back and hummed as she ran her fingers through his hair.

“I know you’re scared, but no matter what I’m not going anywhere,” Trevor told her as he kissed her. She nodded and let him pick her up and carry her back to bed. Laying back down, Trevor hummed.

“Trev?”

“Sorry, I’ll stop.”

“No, I was going to ask what you were humming. It’s nice.”

“I forgot the name but it reminds me of you.”

“Do you know the words?”

Trevor nodded, his voice was soft as he began to sing.

“The best thing about tonight's that we're not fighting  
It couldn't be that we have been this way before  
I know you don't think that I am trying  
I know you're wearing thin down to the core

But hold your breath

Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you  
Over again  
Don't make me change my mind

Or I won't live to see another day  
I swear it’s true  
Because a girl like you is impossible to find  
You're impossible to find

This is not what I intended  
I always swore to you I'd never fall apart  
You always thought that I was stronger  
I may have failed  
But I have loved you from the start. . .”

Kristy had drifted off again and Trevor barely finished the verse before falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of attempted fluff here. The song is called "Fall For You" by Secondhand Serenade. I do not own the song but just thought it would be a good fit for Kristy and Trevor. If you have any other song suggestions I would love to hear them for future reference. Thanks for still reading!


	11. Hell and Back again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, this one is a little long, and I apologize now for everything that happens.

The next time Trevor woke it was peaceful, Kristy hadn’t moved from his arms and he kissed the top of her head. Looking at her, he knew this was perfect. But the peace didn’t last as she groaned and woke up. 

“Morning beautiful.” He told her, she smiled and said nothing as she curled closer to his warmth. 

“Come on we need to get up, I’ll make breakfast.” He offered as he pulled away to sit up. Kristy sighed and followed him to the kitchen. Trevor pulled plates and a pan from the cupboard to start making some eggs. They didn’t take long and he piled them onto the plates and handed one to Kristy. They were silent as they ate and Trevor knew Kristy needed to talk.

“Hey, you alright?” He reached across the table to grab her hand.

“Just thinking,” She put the fork down and rubbed her head. 

“Whats going on up there?”

“I’m worried, about the crew and us and Edgar. It’s a lot going on and everything is so messed up.”

“You know that I’m behind you no matter what, but maybe Jeremy’s right? Maybe it’s time to come clean?”

“You say it like it’s so easy.”

“I know this has been really hard for you. I understand that better than anyone else, but he’s right. You can’t keep running.”

“I know, but it feels like I’ve gone past the point of no return.”

“Trust me, you are nowhere near there. The crew won’t be mad forever.”

Kristy only nodded, she squeezed his hand and stood to put her plate in the sink. Trevor watched her go back to the room and close the door. He knew she needed to think everything through and let her be alone for a while he did the dishes and got ready to head into the office for the day. When he knocked on the door he heard her crying quietly.

“Kris?”

“I’m fine, come in.”

Trevor found her curled up on the bed, trying to hide. He sat behind her and reached his hand over to her. He was answered by a squeeze and he leaned over to kiss her cheek. 

“I have to go in for a while today. Are you going to be okay here? I don’t think you’ll want to come with me.” He asked. She shook her head in answer.

“I’ll be back in a few hours, let me know if you need anything alright?” He kissed her again before leaving. He closed the door behind him and briefly thought about hiding that mask. He shook his head and abandoned the idea, she would be fine.

He tried to think of a way to get Gavin away from his computer so he could get rid of the bug Kristy had planted there and keep her away from the crew. When he pulled up to the office, he saw the main penthouse lights were on. So much for sneaking in.

Trevor made his way up to his office and saw a stack of files waiting for him. He sighed and opened the top one up to reveal a report on one of the crew’s weapons deals. Scanning through it he didn’t see anything out of place and stored it away in one of the filing cabinets before turning back to the stack. The rest were the usual paperwork and files he got every day.

After going through all of them he sat back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. He still had a meeting to go to before he could go back to the apartment. Checking his watch, he sighed and decided to be early for once and waited for Geoff and the crew in one of the conference rooms. Gavin was already there setting up a laptop for the projector.

“What up Trec? What the hell happened to you?” The Brit looked up and saw the worry on Trevor’s face.

“It was a long night.”

“Anything fun?” He asked suggestively.

“Not this time Gav,” Trevor answered. He took his place at the table and check his phone for any word from Kristy. Other than the spam emails, he had no notifications.

The rest of the crew gathered and the meeting started. This was just a “check with base” kind of meeting and it felt like it was taking forever. 

“We also have our Sekhmet problem.” 

Trevor perked up at the name. 

“Do we have any information on her? Who she works for? Where she’s from” Jack asked,

“So far we only have what Gav has put together. All we know is that we seem to have a common enemy and she knows what we do.” Geoff said. Trevor nodded in agreement and hoped his poker face was holding up.

“Any word from Kristy?” Michael asked. The rest of the crew looked over to Trevor and Jeremy.

“I haven’t heard anything.” Trevor lied. He didn’t dare look at Jeremy, he sat in a sweat until the shorter lad spoke.

“I got nothing.” 

Trevor relaxed, Jeremy just shot him a glance and a discreet thumbs-up. Geoff adjourned the meeting and Trevor was almost home free, until Gavin’s laptop pinged. The Golden Boy typed away furiously at the keys.

“Geoff I’ve got something.”

“Well spit it out already.”

“A hit for another safe house. One of Edgar’s bigger hideouts, and there’s a chance he might be there in a few days.”

“Sit back down, this just became a war meeting. I want the other heads of B-Team in here now.” Geoff announced. “This is top priority for everyone. We need a plan, before Edgar knows he’s been compromised.”

There was a mad rush as everyone was gathered and information was pulled up. Trevor could feel the sweat on his hands and tried to think of a way to warn Kristy. He would have to stay and help coordinate the attack and surveillance. If he left it could lead them back to Kristy, but if he didn’t warn her she could walk right into the trap the crew was setting for her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kristy got the ping on her computer a few hours after Trevor had left. She scanned the information quickly. This was it, this was her chance for retribution. She gathered her gear and checked everything was in order. She knew she would have to move fast, Trevor would be stuck at the office and the crew was going to be ready for her.

She knew they would wait for a signal the Edgar was in the building before attacking and that they would have all sides under careful watch. She knew the area well and there was a chance she could get in and out without them knowing. If she had a way to lead them away from the safe house, it would work. But what would distract the crew enough to lead them away from Edgar?

There was one thing that might work but it was risky. If she took too long they would know where she was and what her plan was. It was her only option and she settled for it.

Now all she had to do was wait for the crew to start moving. If everything worked according to her plan, she might pull this off.

She felt horrible for doing this to Trevor but he didn’t understand what this meant to her. You had to be scarier than your fears, and that’s what this was. She needed to look Edgar in the eye and know he was just as scared as she was. 

She paced the apartment, waiting for her signal. At almost four the next morning, she saw her chance. She dialed the familiar number and hesitated before hitting the call button. They wouldn’t forgive her for this. But this was her only chance at Edgar. She hit the green button and listened to the line ring.

Kristy held her breath, someone answered her call.

“Who is this?”

“It’s me, Kristy.”

“Where have you been?” The voice broke. 

“Somewhere safe.”

“Kristy I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean anything I said to push you away. I promise I’ll do better, please just. . . just come home.” Ryan pleaded Kristy could hear him on the verge of tears.

“I’m so sorry.” She cried.

“I know, I know. Just tell me where you are. I’ll come get you.” He reassured her,

“Why do you want me back? After everything I’ve done?”

“Kris, there is nothing you could do that would make me hate you. I lost you twice, I won’t do it again. I will always be here, always.” 

“What about the others?” Kristy sniffled.

“It doesn’t matter, they can get over it. They’ve been just as worried.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay. You need to tell me where you are.”

“I’m almost out of time.” She faked the line going dead.

“Tell me Kris.”

“I’m in Hartford. . .” Kristy hung up. She hated herself for doing that, she threw the phone and wanted to scream. How could she do that to him? To the crew? It was too late to change her mind and her plan. She wiped away the tears rolling down her cheeks and finished gathering her gear. She left through the fire escape and found a car that would get her to the safe house.

Kristy focused her thoughts on the task at hand. She pulled on the mask and felt at ease, she could pull this off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’m in Hartford. . .” Was the last thing Ryan heard before the line went dead.

“Kris? Kris talk to me.”

“Rye?” Jack asked. Ryan hung up and shoved his phone in his pocket.

“I know where she is. I need to go get her.” He reached for his keys,

“You can’t leave now,” Geoff told him.

“She needs me. I won’t abandon her again.”

“Ryan you’ll never make it back in time.” 

“Then go without me.”

“Hell no, we do this together,” Jack argued. “Ryan, if we finish this, then we bring her back to a safer place. Edgar won’t be around to hurt her again. She’ll be alright for another day.”

“She’s got a point Rye, you’ll be protecting her. She can’t be involved if she’s not here.” Geoff agreed.

“Fine, but we move now. The quicker we finish, the quicker Kristy can come home.”

“Let’s go people. We’re moving, now.” Geoff called out. It was a flurry of activity as the last minute details were set into motion. 

Jeremy tracked Trevor down before he left.

“Hey, this is a good thing. If we move now there’s no way Kris could anticipate it. She’ll get there long after we’re gone.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Trevor suit up. I want you with us.”

“What?”

“I need another gun I know I can trust. I need to know our asses are covered.”

“Alright? Give me a minute.” 

Trevor shot Jeremy a look before leaving to get his stuff.

“What are you thinking Geoff?”

“I need to know our getaway is covered, Trevor is the best option. I know we can trust him.” was all the Kingpin said before turning away and heading down to the cars. Jeremy hoped that this whole thing wouldn’t blow up in their faces. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sekhmet was the first to arrive. She ditched the car a few blocks away and tracked through the wooded area behind the compound. She paused when the fence came into view and waited. Edgar had no visible guards along the back edge, but that didn’t mean they weren’t watching. She waited for the first gunshots from the Fakes before moving, the guards would be distracted with them until she could get inside.

She heard the familiar sound of a minigun and knew that Mogar was giving them hell. She ran for the fence and vaulted herself over. She drew her assault rifle and scanned the area, confirming her thoughts. They were too busy with the Fakes to take notice of her.

Sekhmet managed to get inside the building before being noticed by a guard that she quickly dispatched. He had no more hit the floor when she sprinted past him into the next hall. She double checked her ammo before checking the rooms along the hallway. While in the third room she heard someone coming her direction and took cover under the desk. 

She held her breath as the footsteps entered the room, whoever it was was being very cautious. They walked around the front of the desk and Sekhmet could see the recognizable boots of the Vagabond. He turned away, apparently satisfied the room was clear. His footsteps continued down the hall to the rooms she hadn’t made it to yet. 

A minute or so later, Sekhmet came out from her cover. They would come back for another sweep. But something was wrong, the gunshots had stopped. The crew was good but even they couldn’t clear an entire complex in a few minutes. She continued through the building and found where the crew had been by the carnage they left in their wake. Stepping over bodies Sekhmet let her rifle hang from the strap and pulled her knives. 

She stalked closer to the stairwell and heard someone talking. She followed the voice down to the basement, she didn’t recognize it as she got closer to hear what they were saying.

“. . . We need something to get them to retreat.”

“What do we do Boss?”

“Who all has been confirmed?”

“Kingpin, Mogar, Jackie, Monster Truck, Golden Boy was reported but there was no confirmation.”

“The Vagabond?”

“No confirmations but if the others are here then he can’t be far behind.”

“Any others?”

“We managed to knock out some skinny prick outside that was outside sniping down anyone who tried to leave.”

“Dead?”

“No, but it can be arranged.”

“Not yet. The Fakes are sentimental, that's how we win.”

Sekhmet growled, there were too many. Edgar was prepared for any attack. She tracked back upstairs. If he had a hostage the crew wouldn’t move. But who the hell did they have? It wasn’t important and it could give her a chance at Edgar. She kept searching the building for any sign of the crew. 

It wasn’t until she got to the roof that she found them. They made it to the backyard of the compound and it was obvious they knew their person was missing. Sekhmet watched as the Kingpin paced, he was going to try and get their man back in one piece. The others seemed to be on guard and waiting for any sign of movement.

Getting her rifle back up, Sekhmet knew her chances of actually hitting Edgar at this range was slim, but all she had to do was down him. The crew would scatter and she could get them confused. 

True to his reputation, Edgar stepped out of the house with his hostage in tow. The bag over his head made it hard to identify him. Sekhmet lined up the sight over Edgar’s left shoulder. 

“Well, we meet again.”

“GIve us back our man Edgar.” Geoff challenged.

“Oh but he seems like such a fun plaything.” Edgar pouted, “alright, on one condition.”

“And what would that be?”

“I want the secret.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes you do Geoffry, I want to know about immortality.”

“Go fucking read a book then.”

“Ah, that's not what I want to hear. I’ll return your man when you give the secret.”

“Not gonna happen.”

“Well, that is a shame. It could have helped your underling.” Edgar pulled off the hood and raised his gun to point at Trevor’s head. “Tick tock, Kingpin.”

Sekhmet fired the shot and sent the man tumbling. She leapt to the roof of the patio and down to the ground. The crew instantly had guns trained on her. She pulled the pin on a smoke bomb and took cover as they started to fire. She found Edgar a few feet from where she had shot him.

He only grinned at her appearance.

“So this is the little girl that has been helping them. You really should learn to pick the winning side.” He kicked out at her as she neared. Sekhmet batted his leg away and hauled him up by the collar, she growled and slammed his face into her knee. He fell limp and she grabbed him by the wrists to drag him away when someone slammed into her. 

She struggled against the attacker as he growled above her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Michael laughed as he unloaded the minigun into the guards that were pouring out of the door and window. When they stopped coming outside to their deaths the crew went in to flush the rest. Ryan tracked his way through the house carefully. Each room was empty but he was unsettled by the rooms that already had dead men in them.

Sekhmet was here somewhere, and she was still on his list. She wouldn’t get away from him this time. Geoff called them out to the backyard to regroup. 

“They got Treco.”

“How do we get him back?”

“Edgar will want to bargain for him.”

“He want’s to know about the immortality Geoff.”

“We don’t even know how it works.”

“Well, we meet again.” Edgar stepped out with Trevor in tow. 

“GIve us back our man Edgar.” Geoff challenged. 

“Oh but he seems like such a fun plaything.” Edgar pouted, “alright, on one condition.”

“And what would that be?” Geoff knew what the madman wanted.

“I want the secret.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes you do Geoffry, I want to know about immortality.”

“Go fucking read a book then.” Michael sneered.

“Ah, that's not what I want to hear. I’ll return your man when you give the secret.”

“Not gonna happen.”

“Well, that is a shame. It could have helped your underling.” Edgar pulled off the hood and raised his gun to point at Trevor’s head. “Tick tock, Kingpin.”

They were startled as a shot rang out and Edgar fell to the ground. A girl in a lion skull mask leapt down from the roof and threw a smoke grenade. 

“Don’t let them escape. And don’t hit Treco!” Geoff called out. The crew opened fire in the direction they had seen her run. Geoff heard Ryan growl and could hear scuffling past the smoke to his left.

“Jack, Jeremy go get the kid, we’ll help Vagabond.”

“On it Geoff.” Jack ran towards the house. The others followed the sounds of the two skulls wrestling and Michael quickly dragged Edgar away. Geoff watched as the Vagabond held the much smaller girl underneath him. She growled and tried to kick up but Ryan moved out of the way before she made contact. Sekhmet managed to get a knife out and slash at her attacker before that too was knocked away. She screamed in effort to phase the man on top of her but he didn’t budge. Geoff picked up her knife from where it had landed next to his feet. 

The Vagabond had finally pinned the smaller skull masked merc, they both panted from exertion. Her more from the weight of Ryan’s knee on her chest. 

“You are a pain in the ass, you know that?” Geoff said,

She only growled back at them.

“Get her back to base. We’ll deal with her later.”

He only received a nod from the black skull. Geoff turned back to where Jack and Jeremy were helping Trevor up. He seemed slightly bashed up and had a small graze on his shoulder but was alright for the most part. Michael and Gavin were already taking Edgar back to their vehicles. 

“Is everything clear B-team?” He asked over the comms.

“You’re the only ones left boss,” Matt answered. 

“You guys rock.” Geoff told them before taking out his earpiece.

“Come on Trev, let’s get you some ice for that head.” Jack said as she helped him stand. He nodded and blinked a few times to clear his head. The Vagabond was still working on Sekhmet, she was lying still under him.

“How did you do that?”

“Pressure points, are really helpful.” was all he said before throwing her over his shoulder. Geoff just shook his head before following everyone back to the cars. 

They made sure to keep an eye on their prisoners as they made their way home. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jack had taken Jeremy with her to keep an eye on Trevor and make sure he didn’t have a concussion. Michael and Gavin drove back with Edgar which left Geoff and Ryan in charge of Sekhmet. She stayed quiet the ride home but Ryan still kept his pistol trained on her. 

The penthouse was buzzing with activity when Geoff and Ryan arrived with their prisoner. She was still quiet but when Ryan went to pick her up she made a run for it. He tackled her again and forced her arms behind her back. He dragged her up as she growled and snapped at him.

She fought him every step of the way to their interrogation room. At the doorway she stopped, bracing her feet, she refused to budge. Ryan noticed her breathing shortened and her movements became sporadic as she fought to get away. He picked her up and tossed her in the room before closing the door. 

She pounded on the cold metal before backing away with her head in her hands. The room seemed to shrink and close in on her and she screamed. Kristy looked for anything to grab and backed away to the far corner of the room. Her entire body was shaking and she couldn't steady her hands enough to get the mask off her head. She clawed at it, crying out when the door opened and someone rushed towards her. 

She fought but it felt like she had no control of her limbs and the room was growing darker. They were holding her down and another set of hands found the lock that held her mask in place. Kristy screamed again and tried to pull away, but the arms around her were like iron clamps. Someone was saying something but the words didn’t register in her head. 

The mask was pulled off her head and she tried to hide her face away as something wet was forced to her and rubbed away at the paint. Something sharp jabbed at her arm and she pulled away as the arms let go. She threw herself across the floor and tried to stand before a wave of nausea hit her and she collapsed. Everything went black and silent as she fell, the only thing she knew was the cold floor. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“God, you’d think Ryan had already started the way she’s going on.” Matt said as Trevor winced at the sound. 

“Who the hell is it even?” Jeremy asked.

“Uhh, she came back with you.”

“We left before anyone said what was happening. I know they brought Edgar back, did they grab another one of his?”

“I don’t know if she works for him, but there’s a lot we don’t know about Sekhmet.”

“Wait what did you just say?” Trevor spun to face the techie.

“Sekhmet?” He answered cautiously.

Trevor ran for the room, he had to get to her before she hurt herself or the crew got to her. He shoved past Ryan who was guarding the door. He called out to her as he grappled her so she wouldn’t hurt herself as she thrashed. 

“Kris! Kris, it’s me!” He tried. Jeremy was next to him and reached around to try and get the mask off. 

“Jack I need a sedative!” The shorter called as he tried to clean her face. Jack was there with a syringe and Trevor struggled to keep Kristy still long enough for Jack to inject it into her arm. When Jack pulled away, he let go. Kristy launched herself away from them and tried to get to her feet. Trevor managed to catch her before she hit her head on the floor as she collapsed. 

Ryan was next to him in an instant and took his daughter into his arms. He cradled her and apologized again and again. Trevor sat back and tried to ignore the pounding in his head. Ryan was probably going to kill him but that was not an important matter at the moment. Kristy was out and was calming down. He put his head back against the wall and closed his eyes for a minute.

“Somebody tell me what the fuck just happened.” Geoff exclaimed,

“She started to panic and I think went into shock. She was going to hurt herself until Jack put her out for a while.” Jeremy huffed.

“How did you know?”

“I. . . the pieces suddenly fell into place. I can’t explain it.” Jeremy lied. He wasn’t going to tell them what happened. Hopefully, Trevor caught on to his train of thought, Jeremy looked over to see him sitting against the wall with his eyes closed.

“Trev?” He asked, “Trev no sleeping with a concussion.” Jeremy didn’t get an answer. He walked over and shook him. “Dude, don’t kid around.” Trevor didn’t stir. Jack was next to him instantly and began checking for any other signs of something worse.


	12. Reconnecting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, this took longer to write than I thought. But here it is, my attempt at fluff.

After getting over the initial shock of learning who Sekhmet was the crew was uneasy as they waited for her to wake up. Ryan hadn’t left her side since taking her to her room, he was constantly mumbling, hoping she would wake up soon. 

Trevor had been rushed to the med bay and was going to be fine after a few days of rest and quiet. Jeremy stayed with him, the crew couldn’t know that they had been in on Sekhmet’s secret. Trevor groaned, bringing Jeremy out of his thoughts.

“Hey man, how ya feelin’?”

“My head hurts. What happened?”

“You seriously don’t remember?” Jeremy raised an eyebrow.

“I remember coming back here and that’s about it.”

“You saved her life.”

“What? What do you mean?” Trevor panicked. 

“They were able to grab Sekhmet and they dragged her back here kicking and screaming. As soon as you heard her scream you raced for her, nearly tackled Ryan and held Kris down long enough to be sedated and then passed out.”

“Where is she?” He tried to sit up.

“I don’t think it's a good Idea for you to go. . .”

“I need to check on her. . .” He stumbled off the bed and Jeremy managed to catch him and helped him back down.

“Ryan is with her, good luck getting past him. They still don’t know about you two and this is probably not the time to bring it up.”

“How bad was it?”

“Medics think she went into a panic attack and it was severe enough that she went into shock.” Jeremy told him. Trevor ran his hands through his hair.

“What did we do?”

“It’s not important anymore. I told them that we put the pieces together and you recognized the scream.”

“This is my fault, I shouldn’t have left her alone. I knew she wouldn’t stop and I wouldn’t force her. I should have been there with her.”

“Don’t beat yourself up too bad Trevor. This is on me too.”

Trevor nodded, Jeremy asked if he needed anything but only received a head shake. He patted the younger’s leg and left him to collect his thoughts. 

Deciding to check up on Ryan, Jeremy walked down the hall. He found the door open and poked his head in.

“Any luck?”

“Not yet. She’s still out.” A voice that was definitely not Ryan said quietly.

“Where’s Ryan?”

“I made him go take a shower.” Jack sighed, “I can’t believe it’s her. We were so close to hurting her more, how can she forgive us?” She brushed away dirty blond locks from the young face.

“Lucky for us, Trevor recognized her voice. He’s the one we should be thanking.” Jeremy fidgeted, he gripped his hat.

“He knew, didn’t he?”

“What do you mean?” Jeremy stammered, Jack smiled knowingly.

“The way he looked at her, he loves her Jeremy. But you already knew that.”

“Jack I. . .”

“It’s alright, I won’t tell. We all failed at protecting her, you two were the only ones to listen.” She turned her gaze back to the bed. “We’ve all made mistakes. But this would have killed us, especially Rye. He’s already freaking out.”

“She knew this was a possibility. I tried to warn her, I thought she would listen.”

“A member of the Haywood family listening? That’s funny.”

“Yeah,” Jeremy smiled, “I guess you’re right.”

“Hows Trevor?”

“He’s gonna be fine once the bump on his head goes away.”

“How long have they been together?”

“The night we met up with her. It’s been brewing for a while.”

“Poor kid.” Jack smiled. Jeremy gave her a confused look. “He doesn’t have just Ryan to impress. That kid has all of us to deal with.” She shook her head. “He’s already good in my book.”

Jeremy nodded. Trevor wouldn’t have much of a problem with the crew, except the shit the lads were going to give him. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The voices sounded muffled. Kristy watched as red eyes loomed towards her, she dodged out of the way but stumbled over something. Looking down she saw the crew lying at her feet, bloodied and broken. She saw the eyes turn on her again and yelled as they charged towards her. . .

Something shook her and she jolted awake. She scrambled away before hearing a voice.

“Shh, Shh, you’re alright. Everything is gonna be okay.” Jack was next to her,

“Jack?”

“I’m here,”

“Jack!” Kristy wrapped her arms around the redhead. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“Shh, It’s alright.” Jack held her as she calmed down. Once she got some room, Jack cupped her face. “I’m here, I’m real.”

“Jack, I. . . I,”

“You have nothing to apologize for.”

“Neither do you.”

Jack pulled her back into a hug, she was trying to keep her own tears in check.

“Come on let me look at you.” Jack said once they both had gotten control again. “God, you look like Ryan with your hair like that.”

“Like father like daughter.”

“I never doubted that with you two.”

“Did I hurt anyone?”

“Beat on your dad a bit, I think you might have gotten a swing a Trevor too.”

“Is he alright?”

“Which one?” Jack asked when Kristy blushed she laughed. “They’re both fine. Maybe a little anxious but fine.”

“You know?”

“Honey, you can’t hide things like that from me. I’ve been at the game a lot longer than you have.”

“And?” Kristy asked.

“God help that boy if you get hurt. He’ll have all of us on him in a heartbeat. But he’s a good kid.”

“Thanks, Jack.”

“That’s what I’m here for.” Jack told the younger. “You want some food?” Kristy nodded and moved to stand up. Jack waited until she was sure Kristy could move around easily on her own before leading the way to the kitchen. The penthouse was surprisingly quiet, Kristy noticed as they made their way through. 

“It was a long night for everyone, they’re all probably still asleep.” Jack told her. Kristy nodded and stopped in the doorway of the kitchen when she saw Michael sitting at the counter nursing a cup of coffee. He smiled at her and set the mug down as she walked over to him. 

“Good to have you back kid.” He told her as he ruffled her hair. 

“Sorry about shooting you.”

“Hey, none of that. It’s too early.” He smiled, Kristy knew he was joking around with her and she nodded. Michael picked his coffee back up and finished the cup before placing it in the sink. 

“Don’t go running off again before Gavin see’s ya. He whined a lot the last time you left.”

“What a baby.” Kristy laughed. Jack just shook her head and placed a plate in front of the girl.

“Eat up.”

“Thanks.” Kristy said as she started to shovel food into her mouth. 

“You eat just as badly as Jeremy.” Jack said as she watched Kristy destroy the plate of food.

“Who’s complaining about me?” Jeremy grumbled as he walked in.

“You gave Kristy your bad habits.”

“Gotta learn from the best.” He shrugged and took the spot next to Kristy. He grabbed a fork and tried to steal from her plate.

“Go get your own, jerk.”

“But I’m sooo hungry.” He whined weakly. He let his head fall to the counter and pouted.

“Too bad.”

“Glad to see ya back.” He told her as he sat back up. He patted her shoulder before grabbing the plate Jack had made for him. He dug into the food with vigor.

“My point has been made.” Jack crossed her arms.

“It’s because the food is so good,” Jeremy told her.

“You sir are a kiss-ass.” 

“No argument there.” Kristy piped up.

“Hey.” Jeremy pouted. 

“Are you denying it?”

“I mean not really.” He shrugged, turning back to the sausage on his plate.

The three finished their breakfast without any interruptions. Jack offered to do the dishes and sent the two out of the kitchen so she could clean. 

“Jeremy have you seen-Kris!” The brit squawked the last bit as he scooped her up and spun her around. “I missed you!”

“Missed you too Gav.”

“Almost didn’t recognize you with the new hair. It’s kinda scary.”

“Thanks, Gavin, you really know how to make a girl feel special.”

“That’s not what I mean. It’s scary how much you look like Rye-bread.”

“Boo.”

Gavin put her back down.

“That was quite the nasty piece of work you put on my computer.”

“Something I learned from Peak.”

“It took me a while to find, good job.”

“I do my best.”

Gav left to continue his search for Geoff. Kristy wandered the penthouse, half-hoping to stumble into the others. She was about to give up when she walked past the armory and heard someone. Peeking her head in, she saw Ryan hunched over the table. His back was turned to her as he worked on something in front of him.

“Dad?” She asked quietly, as to not startle him. He kept working, mumbling to himself.

“Could she ever forgive me?”

“Yes,” She said louder. Ryan’s head shot up as his shoulders tensed. He looked behind himself before turning around. 

“How? After everything I’ve done, after everything I didn’t do.”

“Because it’s my fault too. And if you can forgive me, then maybe I can forgive myself.” Kristy bowed her head. She didn’t see the tears in his eyes as he backed away from her.

“I do, but I can’t forgive myself. I was ready to kill you, or Sekhmet, it doesn’t matter. It was still you under that mask.”

“Because I forced you. I thought I could handle it on my own, but you were right. I’m not strong enough.” She yelled.

“Kris, why didn’t you tell us?” He sounded broken.

“I was scared,” She admitted. “I thought you would hate what I had become and would want nothing to do with me.” She wiped away the tears that had started to run down her cheeks.

“I could never hate you.”

“I know I messed up everything.”

“Kris,”

“No, all of this. This is my fault and I understand if you never want to see me again.”

“Please, don’t leave.” He stepped towards her, “I can’t do that again.” Kristy finally looked up at him and broke. Ryan rushed forward to catch her as she fell to her knees. He held her as sobs racked through them both. Kristy buried her head in his neck, and he held her as if she would disappear any moment. 

“I’m sorry.”

“I know.” He pulled her into his lap as they sank to the floor. “I’m sorry too.” 

After they had calmed down, Ryan did his best to wipe away the last few tears. 

“I love you so much. When I saw Trevor holding you down. It almost killed me. Knowing what I was prepared to do in order to protect the crew.”

“What happened? I don’t remember much after walking down the hall.”

“I managed to get you in the room. As soon as the door closed you started screaming bloody murder. I didn’t think anything of it until Trevor shoved past me with Jeremy on his heels. They held you down as they got your mask and paint off. Jack had to come sedate you.”

“I remember the hall and then I couldn’t breathe. Almost like someone had my lungs in a death grip. Then I woke up and Jack was sitting next to me.”

“You’ve been asleep all day. I thought it would be better if someone else was with you when you came around.”

Kristy nodded, she didn’t want to hurt him any more than she already had. He deserved better than her.

“I guess I should be thanking Trevor.” 

“We all are. Honestly, do you like him?”

“Well. . . I. . .”

“I didn’t mean it like that. Do you have feelings for him?”

“Yes.” She hid her face again. Ryan chuckled.

“He’s a good kid. But if he ever hurts you. . .”

“Jack said that earlier. Are you mad?”

“I just don’t like the idea of sharing. But If you’re happy, I’ll let him live.” Ryan admitted. 

“That's not at all worrying.”

“I’m your dad, that's part of my job. Feeding, protecting, scaring boyfriends, all in a day’s work.”

“You’re so weird.”

“And you’re stuck with me.” He told her before helping her up. “I’m sure you don’t want to be talking to me when Trevor is still downstairs.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, go on, shoo.” He told her as she hesitated by the door. He watched as she left, he knew they were nowhere near where they should be, but it was going to take time to repair their relationship. He turned back to his project and sat down again.

Kristy took her time going down a floor to where Trevor was supposed to be. She suddenly felt nervous, what was Trevor going to think? She had gone behind his back and did the one thing he had asked her to do. He was going to think she was too much of a problem and be done with her. She heard voices coming from the med bay and decided to check there first. 

As she got closer, Kristy could hear Geoff talking to someone. He walked out of one of the rooms and winked at her before giving her a quick hug.

“Good to see you again kid.” He told her quietly.

“Thanks, Geoff. Have you seen Trevor?”

“In there.” He nodded to the room he had just left. “He’ll be glad to see you’re alright. But if he ever hurts you. . .”

“There’ll be hell to pay. I’ve been told.” 

Geoff chuckled and let her go, he gave a thumbs up before heading to his office. Just outside the door, Kristy noticed how bad her hands were shaking and tried to steady them.

What is he going to think of me? Please, as long as he doesn’t hate me. She took a shaky breath before knocking. 

“Caleb for the last time I’m fine.” She heard him call out. She stepped into the doorway and waited awkwardly for Trevor to acknowledge her presence. His back was turned as he put on a shirt, except for a few bruises and scratches, he seemed alright. 

“Really, my head is fine and I. . .” He turned around and stopped talking. 

“You don’t have to say anything. I know you probably hate me for everything that happened but. . .” Kristy was interrupted as Trevor crashed his lips against hers. He peppered her face with kisses as he spun her around the room. He put her down again and kissed her more gently.

“You scared me to death. Please, don’t ever do that again.” He told her as he held her close. “I thought they were going to kill you.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think it would go that far”

“I know. I know.” He smoothed down her hair. Kristy buried her face in his chest. 

“How can you still like me?”

“How could I stop?” He looked down at her, “And I’m willing to prove that to you every day if that's what it takes.”

“What happened to you? They told me that I freaked out and you had to hold me down. What did you tell them?”

“Jeremy told them that we put the pieces together as we heard you scream. I went along with it when they asked.”

Kristy only nodded against him. Trevor could feel her trembling, he started to hum and sway. She followed his movements and let him lead her with the music. Trevor felt her start to relax against him and continued to hum. Eventually, she stopped trembling but her hands were still slightly shaking as she grabbed his shirt. He pulled away from her and took her hands.

“I’m not going anywhere. I will always be here for you.” He kissed her fingers and laced in his own. “What do you want to tell the others?”

“I think they already know. You’re under heavy surveillance.”

“So I can kiss you whenever?”

“You’re a dork.”

“That’s why you keep me around isn’t it?”

“That’s not the only reason, but it helps.”

“Works for me.” He smiled and rested his forehead against Kristy’s. She forced a smile, Trevor ran his thumb over her scarred knuckles.

“You’ll get through this, you have the entire crew behind you, me included.”

“Thank you, for what it’s worth to back me.”

“Stop saying stuff like that. It will get better.” He told her. She nodded and followed him as he made his way back to the main floor. The crew gave acknowledgment as they passed but said nothing about them holding hands back to Kristy’s room. 

Kristy felt exhausted and just wanted to sleep. She curled up on her bed and felt the bed dip as Trevor laid down next to her. He tentatively laid an arm around her, Kristy grabbed it and let him wrap it around her. Trevor obliged and they fell asleep quickly.


	13. Revenge is Best Served Bloody

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who isn't dead! I promise that after Finals I will get back on track with this. Until then please accept this really late update.

Light was filtering in from between the curtains when Trevor forced his eyes open. Kristy was still curled against him and sleeping peacefully. Looking over at the clock, Trevor saw that they probably needed to get up. He sighed before nuzzling the sleeping form next to him. Kristy groaned and pulled the covers up farther. 

“Come on, it’s almost 11.” He chuckled,

“Nooo.” Kristy whined, she further exaggerated her point when she rolled over him and pinned him to the bed. He huffed as she used her weight to keep him from leaving. 

“We can’t stay here all day.”

“That’s what you think.”

“I’ll show you what I think!” he laughed and flipped them so she was pinned underneath him. He started to tickle her and she tried to curl away from his fingers.

“NO! TREVOR PLEASE!” She laughed under him. He continued his assault as she writhed under his fingers. 

He stopped when she was out of breath and bent down to kiss her. She returned the gesture and pulled him closer. Suddenly realizing their position, Trevor quickly sat up blushing. 

“I’m a. . . I’ll go and uh. . . get my stuff. . .” He stammered. Kristy nodded and let him up. She rolled out of bed and pulled on a clean pair of yoga pants and a sweatshirt that probably belonged to Trevor. Making a beeline for the coffee, Kristy could hear activity coming from the heist room. With her cup of coffee in hand, she listened outside the door.

“. . . We need to figure out what he knows about us.” 

Gavin spoke up, “Why not send Vagabond in? He’s the best at that sort of work.”

“I might not be able to hold back on that bastard. If that part of me takes over, there may be no stopping it.” Ryan told them. The malice in his voice wasn’t hidden at all.

“I can give it a shot if you give me an earpiece Rye can give me tips from behind the mirror.”

“You sure about this Jer?” Jack worried.

“It’s not my first rodeo Jack, I’ve done this before.”

“But never with someone as dangerous as him. He knows how to fuck with you mentally, not to mention that he already knows you.” Geoff pointed out to the short lad. Jeremy shrugged his shoulders.

“What other option is there?”

“We can tag team in and out with Rimmy and Vagabond. If it gets too heated then we swap.”

“What about Kris?” Michael asked.

“What she doesn’t know won’t kill her.”

Michael fumed, “She deserves to tear him apart more than anyone here.”

“She’s not ready for that,” Jack stopped him,” and I hope she never is.”

“Jack, you’ve seen the remnants of her work,” Gavin spoke up again, “ and we’ve watched her in action before.”

“That’s different. . .”

“No, it’s not. That’s the same person under that mask, she can handle herself.”

“Ryan, this is your decision.” Geoff turned to the merc, “You are her father.”

Ryan looked up and locked on the blues eyes peering through the glass. “If she thinks she can handle it, then she has my blessing.”

“Ryan?!” Jack stood from her chair. She couldn’t believe that the man who had originally banned Kristy from all of this was now taking a backseat.

“Michael is right, she deserves to take a few swings at him. But she goes into the rotation with Jeremy and I.”

“Geoff?” Jack shot the leader a worried glance, he would have last say in all of this.

“We watch every second someone is in that room with him. No going in alone, and if we say so you come out of that room.”

“Deal.”

“You’re the boss.” 

Kristy saw them get up to leave before sneaking back to the living room. She nursed her coffee as she processed what had just happened. Ryan was actually going to let her at Edgar, the thought of tearing him apart was a mixture of excitement and apprehension. What if she wasn’t ready like Jack had said? But the thought of losing her chance at the man who had taken so much from her was too good to pass. 

The crew wandered out to get things ready. Jeremy came and sat down next to her on the couch. 

“So what’s the plan?”

“Yeah, like you weren’t eavesdropping on that meeting.”

“I only heard the last part.” Kristy admitted, “Are they really going to let me in there?”

“It all depends.” Jeremy sighed. Looking at the time he groaned before heading to his room to prepare for the long day ahead of them. 

“Just promise me one thing.” He turned back to her, “Be careful, Edgar is just as dangerous as he was before.”

Kristy nodded, “It’s a good thing I’ve gotten more dangerous myself then.” Jeremy smirked and left her with her thoughts. Kristy finished the rest of the coffee before heading to her room to get ready.

She donned a pair of jeans, a plain black shirt, and her boots. Her hair was pulled back by a dutch braid and she tied in a red ribbon she found lying in her room. She checked her hunting knife, smiling as she remembered the day Ryan had given it to her. It seemed so long ago that she had sat in the heist room, waiting to hear what the crew had decided. She secured the sheath to her thigh and checked that her other knife was safely tucked in her jacket. The last thing she put on was the leather fingerless gloves Meg had bought for her.

Kristy jumped at a knock at her door, she opened it to find Trevor waiting. She let him in and he patted the spot next to him on the bed. She sat next to him and leaned on his shoulder.

“I heard about later.”

“I know you don’t understand, but I need to do this.”

“I know,” He squeezed her hand, “Just be careful alright? I don’t want to lose you.”

“I’ll try.” Kristy told him, “Thank you, for everything.” She leaned up to kiss his cheek. He smiled and returned the kiss. 

“Come on, they should be just about ready.” He pulled her up. Together they walked down the hall towards the room that held a nightmare. Trevor felt Kristy hold his hand tighter as she remembered the last trip down the hall. He squeezed back and waited for her to start walking again. Trevor held the door for Kristy and glanced around the room.

Gavin had already set up earpieces and a microphone for the three who were going in. Rimmy Tim was there, fitting in his earpiece and testing it. The Vagabond was watching Edgar through the two-way mirror. His eyes flickered over when Trevor and Kristy walked through the door. Trevor nodded and took a seat at the table next to the crew members who were there for support and backup. 

Ryan pulled Kristy outside,

“I know that there is a lot going on in your head right now. I thought that this might help.” He held out a mask. It was very similar to her original. This one was stronger and was covered in Kevlar. The material was stitched with red accents and the lock on the back had been redesigned. It reminded her of the black skull mask he wore.

“It’s a little different, but it’ll keep you safer.”

“Thank you.” She took the familiar form in her hands. “I don’t know what to say.”

“It’s alright, I know.”

“I love you.” Kristy hugged him. Ryan returned the hug.

“Love you too.” He pulled away. “Come on, we have work to do.” Ryan pulled his mask on as he walked back in. Kristy tucked hers beneath her arm before taking the spot opposite to the Vagabond at the mirror. Jeremy settled his Stenson and took a deep breath before turning the handle on the door. Kristy watched as a grin spread across his face as he shifted and walked through the door. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’m getting real tired of asking the same question over and over again.” Rimmy Tim paced around the bound man. “And that makes me bored, and a bored Rimmy Tim can be dangerous.”

Edgar only chuckled through the blood in his teeth. “We both know that you don’t have a chance at making me squeal.” He glared at the crew through the mirror, “Geoffrey, at least make this worth my time. Why send a pup to do the wolf’s work?” 

Jeremy growled and swung the crowbar. Edgar’s howl of pain turned into a bone-chilling laugh. It stopped when his head slammed against the back of the chair. A gloved hand was wrapped around his throat.

“Jeremy!” Geoff called, “Stand down. We need him alive.” 

Jeremy let go and took a few steps back from Edgar.

“Do you want to hear how I almost broke this freak? It was quite simple really, his screams were delightful. . .” He grunted as Jeremy broke his nose, which started to bleed profusely. 

“Tag out Jeremy, he’s getting to you.”

Jeremy didn’t listen and kept punching, landing blow after blow. 

“Tim! Stand down!” Geoff yelled. Jeremy stopped and marched through the door. 

“What the Hell Geoff?”

“You were losing control.”

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not. Trust us on this Jeremy.”

He huffed and sat down next to the lads. Kristy watched as he came down from the adrenaline rush. 

“Time for the big kids to play, Ryan you’re up.” The skull nodded and calmly walked in. He picked up a serrated knife. 

“Finally, they send in someone worth my time.”

The Vagabond was silent as he circled the chair. 

“This should be fun. I finally get to see the master at work.” Ryan drew the blade and speared it through Edgar’s forearm. He left it there and picked up one of his favorite tools, a crescent wrench. He took the other hand and tightened the wrench around the first joint on Edgar’s pinky. 

He turned it quickly, dislocating the joint and tearing the ligaments. He continued the process and had destroyed the next finger before putting the wrench down. Edgar had let out a few cries of pain.

“We both know you can do better than that.” He coughed, “You’re awfully quiet.”

Ryan shrugged, The crew watched as he worked. Geoff finally calling him out after almost two hours. 

“He’s not giving in. Take it up a level, but we still need him alive.”

The Vagabond nodded and finished off a water bottle before pulling the mask back down and going back in.

“Break over already? My you do work fast.”

Ryan pulled the knife still embedded in Edgar’s arm out with a spray of blood. He duct taped the wound closed before wandering over to the table that held his tools. He scanned the collection before settling on the towel. He filled the bucket from the spigot they had installed in the room.

“Waterboarding? How original. Why not try something new?” Edgar rolled his one open eye. He spit blood before the towel was forced over his face. He remained still as the water was poured into his lungs. Eventually, he began to squirm away, 

“Looks like even a sick fuck like you can’t fight instincts.” Ryan growled. He ran out of water and filled the bucket again as Edgar coughed.

“He can speak.”

“Too bad you don’t seem to be able to.”

“I’ve tried to make conversation, but no matter.” Edgar shifted in his chair, “Now that I know that your tongue hasn’t been cut out, we can talk like civilized men.”

Ryan laughed, “You’ve been trying to get an upper hand this whole time. Now it’s time you start telling us what you know.”

“I think it’s obvious what I know Vagabond. I know your secret, I know your hideouts, I know your weaknesses.” He smiled at his captor, “You get attached to those little pets you keep.”

“I’m not the one who keeps pets.”

“Ahh, but you do. Or have you already forgotten the toy I stole a few months ago?” He saw anger flash across the blue eyes under the mask. “She was such a pretty little thing, too bad you interrupted me when you did. She was ready to break, whimpering and crying from everything I did.” He watched as Vagabond bristled.

“You abandoned her, everything she felt right before she died; pain, anger, fear, helplessness. That is your fault. Then you had to come and ruin my fun, what was it like? Watching her die in your arms?”

Ryan growled and slashed the knife across his face. Edgar laughed,

“How did it feel to know you failed Vagabond? You didn’t save her, the only reason your precious Timmy is still here is because he’s like the rest of you. She was only a normal girl, waiting for her miserable life to end.”

Ryan kicked the chair over and slammed his head against the ground. He made to cut Edgar’s throat before Michael and Geoff pulled him away. Edgar grinned and spat blood at them. They dragged Ryan back into the viewing room.

“What did we say?” Geoff shoved Ryan from the door.

Ryan turned on him and got in his face. “If you expect me to apologize for that don’t hold your breath.”

“We still need him. What part of that can’t you seem to understand?” The Kingpin’s voice cracked as he yelled.

“He deserves to die.”

“Yes, he does. But not before we’re sure.”

“Sure of what? We know what he did to Jeremy and Kris. That should be evidence enough.”

“What about what he knows Ryan?” Jack countered, “How many people will come after us when he’s lying on that floor dead? How many of them will know what he does?” 

They continued to argue, Kristy saw her chance and slipped into the room. She grabbed the rope from the table and dragged the chair to the center post in the room. Edgar was unconscious as Sekhmet pulled him from the chair and hoisted him to a standing position. She tied his wrists above his head, just too tall to keep his feet solidly on the ground without pain in his already injured shoulder. 

Kristy left him to wake up as she heard Jack scolding her from the other room. 

“What are you doing?”

“Getting him ready for my turn.”

“Oh no, all three of you need to cool off.”

“That's bullshit! I didn’t even get a chance at him.”

“As long as he’s coherent enough to talk he’ll get to you.”

“I can handle it.”

“What if you can’t?” Jack sighed, “He hurt you the most out of all of this. He’s going to hold that over you.”

“That’s why I have a mask. He thinks I’m long dead.”

“No, I’m putting my foot down on this. Geoff, back me up here.” She turned to the gent. He nodded in agreement.

“She’s right. We all need to cool off, and he can’t tell us anything while he’s unconscious.” Kristy huffed and stormed off.

“Why the hell did she have to inherit your bad moods?” Jack asked Ryan. He only glared and stormed away as well. “Yep can’t tell they’re related at all.” Jack yelled down the hall. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kristy found herself on the roof, looking out over the city. She wanted to kick and scream, it wasn’t fair. She was so close, and Jack had forced them to quit. Edgar was slipping through her fingers yet again. She heard someone behind her at the door,

“Just leave me alone.”

“Yeah like that’s going to happen.” Jeremy appeared next to her. “I know you want a crack at him. . .”

“I want more than that.”

“Trust me I get it. But we need to know everything he learned about us.”

“He’s so close. I need to be able to look him in the eye and show him I’m not afraid.”

“Can you?”

“Everything these past few months have thrown at me, it comes down to this.”

“Then what?” Jeremy asked her quietly, “What about after he’s gone? It sucks to hear, but the nightmares still come and the memories still haunt you.” 

Kristy fell silent and looked back over the city. She knew he was right, this wasn’t the end-all solution. Eventually, she would have to stop running from her past. 

“I haven’t gotten that far.”

“Are you going to leave again?”

“I don’t think so. I really did miss you idiots.” she admitted before walking towards the door. “It will work out somehow.” She told him before disappearing inside.

Kristy hid in her room for awhile before someone knocked. 

“He’s coming back around if you want to watch.” Ryan told her. He had calmed down since they had pulled him from Edgar. 

“Thanks, I’ll walk with you.”

He nodded and waited as she grabbed her mask. As they walked, Ryan saw what these weeks on her own had done for her. Kristy no longer jumped at every sound and carried herself high. It was a total opposite of when she had first woken up the first time. He was proud, and at the same time disappointed that he had let her become this. 

They were the last to show up, everyone had already settled into their seats and watched as father and daughter entered. 

“Alright Ryan, you’re up. Keep it under control this time alright?”

He grunted and pulled his mask over his face again. Edgar smiled as he saw who was entering. 

“Back again so soon? I do admit, I find it flattering that you all seem so devoted to me.”

“Shut up. Give me what I want to know and I’ll let you die quickly.”

“Ohh that sounded like an ‘or else’. What could be worse than you?”

“Someone who won’t hold back.”

“And who would this someone be hmm? Is it you in an hour or does Geoffrey have another trick up his sleeve?”

“I guess it’s up to you whether you find out or not.”

“I’m intrigued. No, I think I’ll wait for your ‘else’.” 

“Let her in Rye, she’s about to explode in here.” Geoff told him over the comm. Ryan backed away and retreated. Before Kristy stepped in, he stopped her. 

“Be careful, I’m here if you need me.” He told her as he pressed their foreheads together, it would have been cute had it not been for the terrifying skull masks they were wearing. Ryan watched as she walked in, her head held high. 

“Geoff you’ve got to be kidding me.” Edgar coughed more blood. “Sending in a little girl to do your dirty work? This is a joke isn’t it?” He stared straight through the mirror. Sekhmet grabbed his face and examined the cut across his nose. He pulled his head away and growled at her. 

“It’s a shame really,” She purred as she pretended to pick a tool, “All your power and influence and yet no one will come for you.” Sekhmet examined a scalpel before putting it down. She instead slipped the crowbar behind her back and stood in front of her prey. He was refusing to respond to her. 

“Take it easy. This is still new for you, I’ll walk you through if you need.” Ryan reminded her. She signed no behind her back. Similar to Ryan earlier, she circled Edgar. Looking for anything she could use to her advantage. 

“I mean, at least the Fakes come back for their own.” Edgar winced as she traced a rib with the crowbar. She slammed the metal into the already bruised bone and was rewarded with a howl. She repeated the action on his hip and felt the bones crunch under the force. The crowbar was placed to the side and she reached for the scalpel she’d had before.

The crew had to look away as Sekhmet began to carve designs into the bruised skin. She started on Edgar’s chest, slowly drawing with the blade. It caught in a few places and she just tugged until the skin tore apart. He making pained cries as she stepped away to admire her work. Carved into his skin was a cow head the somewhat resembled his insignia. 

“Damn, that’s gotta hurt like hell.” Michael said as he watched. His focus switched to Gavin, who was already looking a little green. The Brit made a rush out the door as Sekhmet grabbed an edge of skin and began to pull. Edgar screamed loudly, which only seemed to encourage his tormentor. Sekhmet finally stopped when she had freed the last of the cow’s head away. 

“So, do you feel like talking now?”

Edgar did his best to glare past her but was forced to look at her. She held his head still as she carefully removed a chunk from his ear. 

“You couldn’t shut up earlier.”

“You’re just one of their pawns.” He spit blood, “Why do you care?”

“Let’s just say that I owe them one.”

“They think that immortality gives them the right to treat everyone else like dirt.” He yelled, “Someone needs to take them down, and free this hellhole from their grip.”

“Someone like you?” 

Edgar laughed, his eyes were deranged as he struggled against his bonds. 

“I’m the only one who can save the people! And this city will bow to me!”

“How’s that working out for you? A few months ago you had them on their knees. Now look at you.” She scoffed at him. Ryan and Geoff were encouraging her to keep probing, “A poor excuse for a God.”

“I was close, I almost had it figured out.”

“Almost doesn’t really cut it.”

“It’s not a gene mutation. It’s a whole new gene in their bodies. They aren’t human.”

“What about you? All of the experiments?”

“It’s never come up.”

“Well if you know what makes them, then you know how to destroy them.”

“That’s the secret, isn’t it? How to kill a God.” His head lolled before he looked up again. “Their brains don’t die. Even in death, it’s still active.” He was laughing again. 

“They’ll leave you to die one day. Did they tell you about their last pet? She died because they abandoned her to me.”

“Something tells me that’s not the whole story.” Sekhmet cocked her head, she pretended to go for his bait.

“They let that girl die. She suffered, the things I did. And I never got my prize.”

“You know I knew her once.” Sekhmet told him, she flipped her knife through her fingers. 

“She died broken, I still remember how soft she looked. Before they interrupted me, I was going to . . .” He gasped for breath and Sekhmet wrapped a hand around his throat. 

“Measure your next words carefully, they may be your last.”

She vaguely registered them yelling at her as she tightened her grip.

“I was going to use her.” He choked out, “Until she was completely broken.” Sekhmet roared and slapped him. He took the chance to breathe again before edging her on.

“She would have been nothing but an empty shell for my pleasure.”

“I’m no shell!” Sekhmet ripped off her mask. She watched as his face turned into one of horror. 

“It’s not possible. You’re dead.”

“You can’t kill Gods Edgar.” She reached up and quickly cut his bonds. He had hardly hit the floor before she was on him. The knife was buried in his stomach and blood gurgled from his mouth. “They just come back for vengeance.” She twisted the knife before plunging it through the eye of her cow brand. Edgar was screaming, but it was beginning to weaken. Sekhmet grabbed his throat and forced him to look up at her. 

“Look at what you created. Just another monster to run wild in this world.” She told him seconds before her second knife was buried to the hilt in his throat. His garbled noises brought up blood and she watched as the life drain from his eyes. She forced it farther before he went limp beneath her. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The crew sat in shock at what they had just witnessed. Ryan unlocked the door and rushed to his daughter. He managed to wrestle her away as she started to beat on the body. 

“Hey, hey,” Ryan soothed, “He’s dead, he can’t hurt you.” Kristy struggled against him before he snapped her out of it. She looked to where the body laid, bleeding slowly. Ryan instructed her to breathe slowly to relax from the bloodlust.

“Holy fuck.” Geoff said as some of the crew came in. 

“That is brutal.” Michael kicked the form.

“We’ll clean up here. Go take care of yourselves.” Jack ushered the three interrogators away. Jeremy watched as father and daughter made their way to the bathroom to wash off the blood and Ryan’s paint. He followed the pair and nodded gratefully to Ryan when a wet washcloth was tossed over. 

Jeremy had avoided the bloodier methods but it still felt like he had red all over his hands. Ryan had already taken off his paint and ditched his jacket to be cleaned later. Kris was scrubbing her hands furiously in the sink. She easily had more blood crusted on her skin than the older two. 

“Hey, you’re gonna rub the skin off.” Jeremy joked, Kristy blinked and shook her head before turning the water off and drying her hands. She tossed the towel to Ryan before escaping to her room. 

“Should we. . ?”

“Give her some time, those are always hard to process.” Ryan referred to her loss of control. They had tried to get what information they could and ‘accidentally’ kill Edgar before Kris had a chance at him. They had planned it when Kris had been sleeping off her panic attack. Ryan had thought it would be better if she had been spared from the bloodshed. But that hadn’t happened, all they could do was help her through the weight of her actions.

Jeremy finished washing up and let Ryan claim the shower first. He wanted to finish his own post adrenaline rituals and made his way to the roof.


	14. Impending Dread

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, look who's still alive! Finals really wrecked any sort of schedule I had. But here's a short chapter to try and get back on track. I plan at some point to do some rewrites but that may not happen for some time. I'll gladly take any suggestions you might have.

Trevor came in late to the office after crashing at his apartment. He found that most of B-team was already in the office. Matt had a few tech request that needed approval, Ashley found some weak points in Edgar’s territory, and a few other things that need his immediate attention. By the time he finally stood from his desk it was noon. His stomach grumbled, reminding him that he had skipped breakfast. As soon as he had a free moment, it was snatched away by issues he needed to take care of. He sighed as he heard another knock on his door, Jeremy poked his head in.

“Hey Treco, you got a minute?” He started before pausing, “You alright man?”

“Just been a busy day.”

“I’m with you on that.” Jeremy closed the door behind him. He sat down, “Kris wandered off last night.”

“Is she alright?!”

“She’s fine.” Jeremy assured him, “She called Ryan midway through a panic attack and we went and got her.” Trevor sat back and ran his hands through his hair. Jeremy continued,

“Thought you’d like to know. Since you two are. . .”

“Geeze Jeremy, way to make it sound weird.”

“Sorry, just trying to get used to you guys as a couple.”

“I think I’ve been threatened by most of the crew.”

“Hey, that means they like you.” Jeremy smiled. Suddenly a loud rumbling sounded throughout the room. Jeremy stared at Trevor.

“Dude, was that your stomach?”

“Yeah, I missed breakfast.”

“And lunch. It’s almost two.”

“Aww man.”

“What do you want?” Jeremy was already on his phone.

“What?”

“What do you want to eat dummy.”

“You don’t need to Jer. . .” Jeremy interrupted him before he could finish his thought. 

“Shut up, you need to eat.”

“I’m fine really.” Another rumble, “Ok maybe a sandwich would be good.”

“Give me ten minutes, I’ll be back.” Jeremy took off, leaving a confused Trevor in his wake. 

Halfway up to the penthouse, Jeremy called Kristy’s phone. She answered, half asleep.

“What?”

“I need your help.”

“With what?” He had obviously woken her up.

“What does your boyfriend like on his sandwich?”

“What?” She yawned. 

“What does Trevor like on his sandwiches?” Jeremy said slower so Kristy could understand him.

“Why?”

“Because your boy toy hasn’t eaten today and if we don’t get the kid a sandwich, they might start picking his stomach up on the Richter scale.”

“Where are you right now?” She sighed in defeat. Jeremy heard her open her door and start walking to the kitchen. 

“In the elevator.”

“Do we have food?”

“Yes, so you’ll help me make food for your boyfriend?”

“I’m already working on it. Do you want one?”

“Have I ever told you that I love you?”

“Trevor might fight you for that.”

“He doesn’t get dibs on sibling affection. That would be weird.”

“Whatever Jeremy.” She hung up when she heard the front door open. “You want your usual?”

“Yes please, with extra mayo.” He pulled out the jar. Kristy pretended to gag.

“That’s disgusting.”

“It’s not that bad.”

“Shut up and hand me the ham.”

“Hand over the knife and it’s yours.”

Kristy laughed and handed over the knife for Jeremy. He tossed the package of ham behind his back for Kristy to catch. Jeremy finished building his monstrosity of meat and mayo and watched as Kristy finished Trevor’s sandwiches. He stopped dead when he watched her use the ketchup and mustard to draw on them.

“Did you just draw little smiley faces on those?”

“Duh,”

“That's so cute!” He almost squealed. 

“If you tell anyone, they will never find your body.” Kristy threatened as she put the last piece of bread on both.

“But you even put little hearts for the eyes! That’s so freaking cute. Who would have thought you’d turn out to be a big softie.”

“Again they will never find your body.” She held the knife and darkened her eyes. Jeremy tried to hold back his laughter but failed. Kristy held her poker face until Jeremy’s infectious laughter took over. She placed the two on a plate and smeared the mayo knife on his cheek and ran before he could chase after her.

“Noo! How could you betray me?!” He ran after her but was blocked off the elevator doors. He ran down the stairs to try and cut her off before she got to the offices. He waited by the elevator door for it to open. The door opened and he had to keep himself from launching at an unsuspecting Ryan. 

Kristy laughed and raced past him into Trevor’s office and closed the door in his face. 

“What’s going on?”

“Here,” She handed him the plate. He gave her a confused look. She panted out of breath, “Made you some sandwiches, smeared mayo on Jeremy, ran here to escape him.”

“Is that why Jeremy is glaring at us through the door?”

“Probably,”

“And what about your dad?”

“Not sure.”

Trevor set the plate down and unlocked his door. Jeremy charged in and returned the mayo to Kristy by smearing it on her nose. She made a disgusted noise as Jeremy cheered. Ryan stood in the door confused.

“What just happened?”

“Your daughter smeared mayo on my face, so I was returning the favor.”

Ryan shrugged and turned away, saying that he had to talk to Shifty. Jeremy slowly backed out before shouting,

“She drew little hearts on your food!” He ran off before she could give chase. Trevor raised a questioning eyebrow. 

“Is this true?”

“You can’t prove anything,” Kristy smirked. Trevor carefully peeled the top piece of bread back on one sandwich. 

“This sandwich says otherwise.”

“You caught me.” Kristy put her hands up. “What are you gonna do about it?” Trevor thought for a moment before sitting at his desk. 

“Well, I’m going to eat this sandwich and think over my options.”

“Oh, you have options now hmm?” Kristy came behind him and put her arms around his shoulders. He leaned back to look at her.

“Well, just two right now.”

“Do I get any hints?” 

“Nope.” He kissed her, “I’m gonna keep them to myself until I make a decision.”

“There’s no way to persuade you?”

“Well. . .” 

Kristy rolled her eyes, Trevor pulled her down again. He briefly thought about bring up last night but decided that she would tell him when she was ready. She gave him one last peck before standing up. 

“These are made with love right?” Trevor caught her hand as she walked away.

“Double helping.” She joked. Trevor took a bite and hummed.

“Better than ever.” He complimented. 

“How did I do?” She asked. He held it out for her to take a bite. She took a bite and pretended to gag.

“I'm gonna need to take those from you, you can't eat those.”

“Too late.” Trevor snatched it back and put more in his mouth. 

Kristy rolled her eyes, Trevor caught her hand and brushed circles across her knuckles. 

“Hey, everything alright?”

“Just tired, it was a long night.”

“Nightmares?”

“It's not a big deal.”

“if you say so, but seriously, you can tell me anything. You know that right?”

“I know Trev.”

“Are you busy later?”

“That depends,” Kristy let him pull her closer, Trevor wrapped his arms around her waist and gazed up at her. “what did you have in mind?”

“Dinner and movie? Some cuddling after at my place?” He cocked an eyebrow to make her laugh.

“Sounds perfect.”

“Great, I'll see you at 6:00 on the dot.”

“Don't work too hard.”

“You know I will.” Kristy leaned down to kiss him before she pulled away. Trevor watched her leave and looked at his clock. Almost 3:00, he turned back to his work and dug into the sandwiches.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kristy finished the chapter and set the book down before stretching, letting her back pop and crack. She heard a knock on the door and checked the time, 5:45, it had to be Trevor. She opened the door and was greeted with a bouquet of lilies. 

“Sorry there’s only 11, but if you held these in front of a mirror you’d see the 12 most beautiful things in the world.”

“That was pretty smooth.” She took the flowers and walked into the kitchen for a vase.

“You ready?” He came up behind her and kissed her cheek.

“Just let me put these in some water and I’m all yours.”

“Who’s at the door?” The eldest gent came into the kitchen. Trevor waved, 

“Hey, Geoff,”

“Taking our girl out?”

“I’ll have her home by 11 and I promise to behave.”

“Yeah like that’s gonna happen, just don’t call me for bail.” He joked, pulling a sleeve of crackers and a can of Cheez Whiz from the cupboards. Kristy shook her head and waved as they walked out the door.

“Bye Geoff.”

Trevor lead her down to his car and opened the door for her. He took her to dinner at a little cafe downtown before the movie. His arm was wrapped comfortably around Kristy’s shoulders as they walked, her smile was infectious and he couldn’t get enough of it.

As they passed a dingy looking alley, Kristy froze in her track and stared into the darkness. He was walking towards them slowly, eyes glowing, just like on the beach. She shrank next to Trevor and whimpered.

“Hey, it’s alright. There’s nothing down there.”

“He’s standing right there!” She whispered harshly. Trevor searched for what she was seeing. There was no in the alley. He pulled her closer and hurried her away to the car. He helped her in and started the engine. Her hands were trembling, he reached over and took one in his grip.

“Kris?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”

“It’s alright, it’s gone now.”

“Why is this happening?” She leaned into his touch, Trevor kissed the top of her head.

“I wish I knew, I would take it away if I could.” He let her relax against him before asking, “Is this why you didn’t sleep last night?”

“I was at the beach, trying to clear my head. Suddenly he was there and . . .”

“Hey, whatever it is, it can’t hurt you.” He reassured her. “What do you say we get you back home?”

“Can we go to your place?” She asked, “It’s quieter than the penthouse.”

Trevor nodded and started to drive away once Kristy had sat back in her own seat. Although she didn’t let his hand go until they made it to his apartment. He led the way up and unlocked the door, letting them into the apartment. Trevor turned on the TV to keep away the silence.

Kristy curled up on the couch, Trevor brought her a cup of hot chocolate with a couple of marshmallows floating on top. 

“Here, this will help.”

“Thanks, I’m sorry about tonight.”

“It’s not your fault Kris. You’ll get over whatever this thing is.”

“It was supposed to be our night out.”

“We’ll reschedule. I’m happy as long as you’re next to me.”

Kristy smiled weakly and sipped at the warm liquid held in the mug. Trevor sighed and slid in next to her. She placed the mug down and leaned into him, letting his warmth envelop her. She felt herself relax as he gently ran his fingers through her hair, massaging her scalp. Kristy let Trevor lay her across his lap. 

“Nothing can hurt you here. Just relax.” He soothed, continuing to pet her hair. She started to snore lightly on his lap. Trevor felt his own eyes grow heavy and he felt himself lull into sleep.

A crash jolted him awake and suddenly a hand wrapped around his mouth, silencing his protests. 

“I suggest you breathe at some point. I doubt you have the ability to come back like your friends.” A deep voice purred in his ear, just beyond his peripherals. Trevor’s eyes went wide, not realizing he had been holding his breath. Now noticing the damp cloth held tight against his nose. His lungs were burning for air and he tried to hold tighter to Kristy.

“She won’t answer you.” The voice growled in Trevor’s ear. “She’s already asleep.”

She was ripped from his arms and Trevor was forced by his body to breathe in the sweet scent. It immediately clouded his mind, and the last thing he saw through the fog, was Kristy being carried away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kristy’s head was pounding, her arms were tied behind her to the wall and a cloth was tied around her eyes. A groan sounded to her left. 

“Trev?” She called out. 

“Kris? Are you alright?”

“For now.” Her voice was steady, disguising her fear. “What happened?”

“You’ve been kidnapped. I thought that would be obvious.” 

Trevor was unblinded and saw Kristy freeze at the voice. His hands were bound above his head. There was no one else in the room, 

“Who are you? What do you want with us?”

“Only knowledge. I want to know the secret to everlasting life.”

“Sounds like someone else we know.”

“Yes, true. But I must have gotten somewhere.”

Trevor felt his heart stop. Kristy was shaking and struggling to breathe. How the fuck was he still alive? They had all watched Kristy obliterate him in that interrogation room. 

“Oh don’t worry, I still have the scars to remind me of our little escapade.” He growled, “But I’ve made sure that we won’t be rudely interrupted this time.”

“They’ll track us down.” Trevor warned, “They won’t stop looking until they find us.”

“They won’t find you until it’s too late.” His laugh reverberated against the walls, “Don’t worry my dear, you and I will get ample time to reconnect with each other.”

“Leave her be!”

“Oh look, the lover jumps to the rescue.” 

They were left in silence, Trevor was furious. Kristy had come so far in the past few months, now Edgar was going to tear open those wounds again. 

“Kris?” 

“I’m fine,” she answered his question,

“They’ll find us.”

“How? Jeremy is the only reason they found us last time. I know my tracker is gone.”

“They won’t leave us.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” “He knows what to expect from them, he’ll lay traps for them.”

“Everything is going to be fine.”

“No, it isn’t!” She snapped at him, “I can’t do this again!”

“Kris listen to me!” She shrank back, he had her attention. “I need you to stay with me.” He saw her look towards him and nod. His shoulders sagged as he saw Kristy retreat as far as she could against the wall.   
Trevor braced himself for the shit storm that was about to hit full on.


End file.
